Janet Reno, the nation's first female attorney general, will address Cornell's convocation for graduating students and their families May 26 during the university's commencement weekend.

A member of Cornell's Class of 1960, Reno was selected as the convocation speaker by this year's senior Class Council, which polled students on their choices. Claire Ackerman is class president and Nageeb Sumar is chair of the convocation committee.

The convocation speech will be presented at noon in Barton Hall, Saturday, May 26. Commencement will be held Sunday, May 27, in Schoellkopf Field, starting at 11 a.m. By tradition, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings will present the commencement address.

As attorney general for almost eight years during the administration of President Bill Clinton, Reno headed the world's largest justice and law-enforcement office, responsible for the enforcement of federal laws and for representing the government in court. She was the longest serving attorney general since before the Civil War. In evaluating her tenure, a Jan. 17, 2001, editorial in The Washington Post said, "... Ms. Reno's performance was marked by tough judgments made with great integrity, often under withering fire. ... The department under Ms. Reno expanded its international efforts, and it modernized -- focusing on such matters as high-tech crime, terrorism and the protection of potentially vulnerable infrastructure. ... At the sunset of her service, Ms. Reno stands as that rare political survivor who has emerged largely uncompromised by survival."

A native of south Florida, Reno attended Dade County public schools and then worked her way through Cornell as a waitress. She graduated with a major in chemistry in 1960, and then earned her law degree from Harvard Law School. Prior to her appointment as attorney general in 1993, she served for 15 years as the state attorney for Dade County.

Reno spoke at Cornell in October 1994. She served on the Cornell Council from 1972 to 1975 and on the Steering Committee of Alumni Leaders from 1984 to 1990. Since 1990, she has been a member of the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW), an alumnae advisory group. Since leaving her government post, she has been living in the family home her mother built in south Florida and has announced she will continue to be involved with issues important to her, including dispute resolution, advocacy for children and the elderly, and problem-solving in law enforcement. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls in 2000.