Wednesday, May 20, 2020
YLS '90: Michele Baker Richardson
I have a very clear memory of Michele Baker Richardson from the first year of law school: that she seemed like she was already a lawyer, just masquerading as a student as some kind of research project or something.
She came to YLS after getting a degree from Brown and then working in advertising for several years-- that probably accounted for her poise amidst the rest of us.
After law school, she had a number of fascinating jobs (like an awful lot of my other classmates). At one time or another she was a writing instructor at Stanford, the Dean of Students at the University of Chicago's law school, and a professor at two other law schools in the Chicago area. Then she founded--and now runs--Higher Education Advocates, an organization that helps people go through the confusing process of applying to college and graduate school.
It makes me happy that so many of us have gone into work where we help students in one way or another-- it's deeply fulfilling work that makes a very real difference in the lives of others.
