The American Bar Foundation (ABF) has elected two new board members to its Board of Directors. Patty A. Ferguson–Bohnee and the Honorable Peter M. Reyes, Jr. were both elected to serve a five-year term, beginning September 1.
Ferguson-Bohnee and Reyes both bring to the board years of expertise in the practice of law and extensive histories of leadership. As ABF Board members, they will join a group of upstanding legal professionals dedicated to advancing the mission of the ABF, led by President Jimmy K. Goodman.
“We are thrilled to welcome these exceptional leaders to the ABF’s Board of Directors,” said ABF Executive Director Mark Suchman. “Judge Reyes and Professor Ferguson-Bohnee both bring a wealth of legal and professional experience, and their active involvement in the organized bar embodies the Foundation’s commitment to engaged scholarship that both expands knowledge and advances justice. We eagerly look forward to benefiting from their insights and vision, as we work together to further the ABF’s mission.”
Patty A. Ferguson-Bohnee is Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Indian Legal Clinic, and Faculty Director of the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She is also an attorney at Sacks Tierney in Arizona, where she works with the Indian Law and Tribal Relations Practice Group. Professor Ferguson-Bohnee has substantial experience in Indian law, election law and policy matters, voting rights, and status clarification of tribes. She has testified before Congress, the Louisiana Legislature, and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights regarding tribal recognition, climate displacement, and human rights issues, and has successfully assisted four Louisiana tribes in obtaining state recognition.
A member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian tribe, she serves as the Native Vote Election Protection Coordinator for the State of Arizona. She is a founding member and past president of the Native American Bar Association of Arizona, and past president of the National Native American Bar Association. In 2020, she was awarded the “Spirit of Excellence Award” by the American Bar Association (ABA), and in 2015, was recognized as “Woman of the Year” by the Phoenix Indian Center. Ferguson-Bohnee received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. As a Fulbright Scholar to France, she researched French colonial relations with Louisiana Indians in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Hon. Peter M. Reyes, Jr. is a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. He serves on the ABF Fellows Research Advisory Council (FRAC). In the ABA, he currently is in the House of Delegates, the Rule of Law Initiative, the Nominating Committee, and is chair of the Judicial Division’s Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. He was an Advisor to the Business Law Section of the ABA and is now on Council. Judge Reyes is also the president of the U.S. National Committee for the International Association of Lawyers (UIA) and will become president of the Minnesota Historical Society in 2024. Judge Reyes served as president of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association and national president of the Hispanic National Bar Association.
In 2012 and 2013, Poder Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America. Judge Reyes received the Ohtli Award in 2016 from the Government of Mexico, the “MHBA Courage in Leadership Award” and the ABA “Spirit of Excellence Award” in 2019. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas and his J.D. with Honors from Mitchell-Hamline College of Law.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.