Nova Southeastern University Welcomes Rebecca Tsosie, J.D.

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – Rebecca Tsosie, J.D., Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University (ASU), will present the keynote address during Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Graduate Schools Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 12.

Rebecca Tsosie, J.D.

Tsosie is a Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar and has served as Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program at ASU since 1996.  She received her J.D. and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and clerked for Vice Chief Justice Stanley G. Feldman of the Arizona Supreme Court prior to joining the law firm of Brown and Bain.  Professor Tsosie was awarded a President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California in 1993 and joined the permanent faculty of Arizona State University in 1994.

Tsosie teaches in the areas of Indian law, Property, Constitutional Law I, Cultural Resources, International Indigenous Rights, Bioethics, and Critical Race Theory.  She has published widely on doctrinal and theoretical issues related to tribal sovereignty, environmental policy, and cultural rights, and is the co-author of a federal Indian law casebook entitled American Indian Law: Native Nations and the Federal System

Professor Tsosie is of Yaqui descent and has worked extensively with tribal governments and organizations.  She serves as a Supreme Court Justice for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and as a Court of Appeals Judge for the San Carlos (Arizona) Tribal Court of Appeals.

The Commencement ceremony will award advanced degrees to students from graduate programs at the Center for Psychological Studies, Criminal Justice Institute, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, and the Oceanographic Center.

Commencement ceremonies will begin at 11:00 a.m., at the The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. The NSU community is invited and encouraged to attend each Commencement ceremony as NSU celebrates and honors the achievements of its graduating students. Tickets are not required for admission to the ceremony.

About Nova Southeastern University: Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 29,000 students and is the seventh largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate’s, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.  Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University’s significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement.   For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.

Media Contact:
Felecia Henderson | NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5315 (office) | 954-383-4695 (cell) | fhenders@nova.edu