Irene Merker Rosenberg
Professor of Law
Irene Merker Rosenberg joined the Law Center faculty in 1974, and became the first woman to receive tenure. She was nationally known as a scholar in juvenile justice and criminal law and procedure, and frequently published in major law journals.
While teaching criminal law, criminal procedure and constitutional law, Rosenberg developed two new courses in the law school's curriculum: juvenile justice and legal analysis. She was recognized by students and other professors as a rigorous teacher. Her scholarly accomplishments were recognized when she won a University of Houston Research Excellence Award in 1993.
She was a frequent collaborator with her husband and fellow Law Center Professor Yale Leonard Rosenberg on scholarship that reflected their passion for the Constitution, for justice for juveniles and the accused, for Jewish law, and for learning.
Irene Rosenberg earned a B.A. from College of the City of New York (C.C.N.Y.) and an LL.B. from New York University College of Law where she worked on the law review. After admittance to the bar, she worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in Washington, D.C., and subsequently practiced with the Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Division, in New York City.
After her husband’s death in 2002, Rosenberg founded the Yale L. Rosenberg Memorial Fund to recognize and foster excellence at the Law Center. The endowment is used to fund a student writing prize and to bring distinguished speakers to the Law Center.
She passed away on Nov. 17, 2010, at the age of 71.
Read more about the life and legacy of Professor Rosenberg
