The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law announced today the establishment of a nonpartisan national research center to honor the legacy of the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. The William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government (The Rehnquist Center) will be devoted to nonpartisan academic research, policy analysis, national and international judicial exchange, and educational outreach on three primary themes: separation of powers, federal-state relations, and judicial independence.

Sally M. Rider, who currently serves as Administrative Assistant to Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has been named Director of the Rehnquist Center. Rider is a 1986 graduate of the Rogers College of Law and worked with Chief Justice Rehnquist for five years. She will assume her position in late September 2006.

“We plan to create a vibrant community of policymakers, judges, lawyers, and scholars who will focus on important constitutional issues, including the balance of power between the states and the federal government, separation of powers, and the role of the American judiciary, particularly as it has evolved over the last 30 years,” said Toni M. Massaro, Dean of the Rogers College of Law. “It’s only natural that it be located in Chief Justice Rehnquist’s adopted state, at the law school where he taught for more than a decade. He approved the Center concept personally, and spent a lifetime advancing these constitutional themes.”

UA President Peter Likins called the creation of the Rehnquist Center a major undertaking for the University. “It will be a unique place for students, policymakers, jurists, and legal scholars to examine some of the most profound questions of law in America. It is the perfect tribute to Chief Justice Rehnquist’s long and distinguished service to the American people, and an honor for the University of Arizona.”

Sally M. Rider is the Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, a position she has held since August 2000. She serves as the Court’s chief of staff and assists the Chief Justice in his overall management of the Court and with his other responsibilities as head of the Third Branch of government. Ms. Rider is Executive Director of the Supreme Court Fellows Program and serves on the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee, a committee appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist that is evaluating how the federal judicial system is dealing with judicial misbehavior and disability.

From 1986 to 1987 Ms. Rider served as staff counsel to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. From 1987 to 1990 she was a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. She was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia from 1990 to 1995 and from 1995 to 1998 she was an Attorney Adviser and then Deputy Assistant Legal Adviser at the Department of State. Prior to working for the Chief Justice, Ms. Rider was Deputy Chief of the Civil Division in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Ms. Rider received a B.A. from the University of Arizona, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, with high distinction, in 1980. She received her J.D. with high distinction in 1986 from the University of Arizona College of Law.