Charles Calleros and Kevin Gover have been selected to receive the 2011 Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association. Calleros and Gover are both professors at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and are the fourth and fifth professors from the College of Law to receive the award in it’s 16-year history.
The Spirit of Excellence Award seeks to recognize the efforts of lawyers who work to promote a racially and ethnically diverse legal profession. Calleros and Gover will receive their awards from the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession on Feb. 12.
“These are the premier awards from the ABA recognizing those who are true national leaders in diversifying the bar,” said Paul Schiff Berman, dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law. “This is both a great achievement for Charles and Kevin, and a great testament to the school’s commitment to issues of diversity in legal education and the profession.”
Both Gover and Calleros have a long history of success. While serving on the college’s faculty, Gover also acts as director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and is on the governing boards of several non-profit educational institutions. Gover’s success began early in his career when the firm he owned in New Mexico grew into one of the largest Indian-owned law firms in the United States.
Calleros started at The College of Law in 1981 and has since gone on to receive numerous mentoring awards. His most well-known work, though, was his role in implementing a National Hispanic Bar Association mentoring program in Phoenix. The program connects high school students with pre-law undergraduates, law students and local attorneys. Calleros has also brought about an annual mock trail academy as well as law library exercises for local high school students.
“By reaching down to high school …pipeline programs seek to increase the size of the diverse pool of highly qualified applicants to higher education in general and-we hope-eventually to law school in particular,” Calleros said.
When asked about his accomplishments, Calleros notes that he couldn’t have done it alone.
“I was simply the easiest ‘point person’ to nominate among many at the law school and in the bar who have contributed countless hours of time to the mentoring and outreach programs that attracted the attention of the ABA,” he said.
