Calleros, Gover receive ABA Spirit of Excellence Award
Charles Calleros and Kevin Gover, professors at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, received national awards from the American Bar Association for their work in promoting diversity in the legal profession on Feb. 12.
The ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity presented the 2011 Spirit of Excellence Awards to Calleros and Gover at the award’s annual luncheon in Atlanta.
The Spirit of Excellence Awards highlight extraordinary lawyers who have dedicated their careers to promoting a more racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. They are presented to lawyers who excel in a variety of professional settings, personify excellence on the national, state or local level, and demonstrate a commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession.
In the award’s 16-year history, there have been three such winners from the College of Law, including Rebecca Tsosie, Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program, who received the award in 2002.
The ABA recognized Calleros for his dedication to diversity programs that provide guidance and inspiration to students aspiring to attend law school.
Calleros, who joined the faculty in 1981, has been interested and active in outreach programs since before becoming a law professor. His resume includes many awards and accomplishments, from the 2010 Outreach and Mentoring Award from the Committee on Women and Minorities in the Law of the State Bar of Arizona to serving on the Minority Affairs Committee of the Law School Admission Council and participating in the ABA/LSAC Pipeline Diversity Conference in 2005.
Gover was recognized by the ABA for his commitment to rebuilding neglected Indian schools, upgrading Indian law enforcement and overhauling the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ management systems while serving as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.
In accepting the award, Gover discussed the impact of promoting diversity, according to an ABA article about the event.
“It encourages the entry of new voices to the great human discourses,” Gover said. “All human wisdom has value in this discourse. So, when we promote diversity, each of us truly is helping to save the world.”
To read the entire article, click here.
Since 2007, Gover has served as director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. In addition to being on the law school’s faculty, he was the co-executive director of the American Indian Policy Institute and an affiliate professor in the American Indian Studies Program at ASU.
Staci McCabe, Staci.McCabe@asu.edu
(480) 965-8702
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law