2012 Clifford Calhoun Service Award Honors Professor Helen Norton
Colorado Law will honor Associate Professor and Associate Dean Helen Norton with the 2012 Clifford Calhoun Service Award in recognition of her dedication to public service and to the Colorado Law community.
“Helen Norton has lived a life of service and is a natural for the Calhoun Award,” said Phil Weiser, dean of the law school. “After working with Helen as an Associate Dean over the last year, I am very impressed with her commitment to helping our students, supporting the faculty and staff here at Colorado Law, and serving the public. She is a wonderful asset to the law school and our community.”
Norton’s scholarly pursuits include constitutional law, civil rights, and employment discrimination. She is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a member of the Law School’s public service committee, and involved in numerous campus committees. Before joining the Colorado Law faculty, Norton taught at the University of Maryland and University of Wyoming, served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, and was Director of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Since joining Colorado Law, Norton has demonstrated her commitment to public service in several ways, leading President Obama’s transition team charged with reviewing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, regularly testifying before and consulting with Congress and federal agencies on civil rights law and policy issues, and serving as a volunteer firefighter.
Norton’s contributions to the Colorado Law community, along with a number of other awardees, will be recognized with faculty and staff on Tuesday, May 15. Calhoun, the inspiration for this award, served Colorado Law for 29 years as a faculty member, associate dean, and acting dean. The award is presented to a faculty or staff member who epitomizes the giving spirit of Calhoun.
An anonymous donor established the Clifford Calhoun Service Award in 1998 and designated it for “persons who contribute to the public service of the law school in the spirit and tradition of the contributions Professor Calhoun made in his career at the law school.”