Sandra Day O’Connor’s announcement this week that she is retiring from public life due to her diagnosis of early-stage dementia has legal educators reminiscing about her myriad contributions to the law and her impact on their schools.

The nation’s first female Supreme Court justice, O’Connor has delivered her message on the importance of the rule of law and the responsibilities of lawyers to uphold it directly to budding attorneys in commencement addresses, panel discussions and other campus visits over the years.