All in the Family...a history of firsts

Mizzou Magazine

Mary Nelson, JD ’80, downplays her history of “firsts.” Photo by Nicholas Benner.

Story by Lauren Foreman
Published Feb. 13, 2013
The first black woman appointed to Missouri’s administrative hearing commission credits much of her success to Mizzou. Her former classmates are judges, prominent lawyers and heads of corporations. “I’m connected to a network of influential people all over the country,” says Mary Nelson, JD ’80. “They take my phone calls because I’m a part of the Mizzou family.”
Nelson has achieved a slew of “first” designations, including the first African-American elected to partnership at Lashly and Baer law firm in St. Louis, and the first African-American to serve as general counsel to the Missouri Speaker of the House.
But she considers being first only an “accident of history,” not a major accomplishment. “I think there is so much in our society that has nothing to do with merit but just has everything to do with timing,” Nelson says. “I don’t think my being the first to do something means I was the first and only person qualified for the job; it might mean I was there when the door finally opened.”  

Read the entire article as it appears in Mizzou magazine.