Soia Mentschikoff

Soia Mentschikoff (; April 5, 1915 – June 18, 1984) was a Russian American lawyer, law professor, legal scholar and law school dean, best known for her work in the development and drafting of the Uniform Commercial Code. She served as dean of University of Miami School of Law. She was also the first woman to teach at Harvard Law School.

Early life and education Mentschikoff was born on April 5, 1915, in the Russian Empire, to American parents. Mentschikoff's parents returned to the United States prior to the Russian Revolution.

In 1930, at age 15, Mentschikoff began her undergraduate education at Hunter College in New York City, where she majored in English and political science. After graduating from Hunter College, she enrolled at Columbia Law School, where she completed her J.D. in 1937.

Career Wall Street attorney After graduating from law school, Mentschikoff worked at several Wall Street law firms,

Uniform Commercial Code While Mentschikoff was still a student at Columbia, she met Karl Llewellyn, a professor there at the time. In 1951, both were offered teaching positions at the University of Chicago Law School. Due to the school's anti-nepotism rule, Llewellyn was named a "professor," while Mentschikoff was given the title "professorial lecturer." Mentschikoff held this position until Llewellyn's death in 1962, at which point she was made a full professor.

While at the University of Chicago, Mentschikoff became involved in the development of international commercial law. In 1964, she represented the United States at a diplomatic conference in The Hague, where she pushed for a uniform law governing international sales and arbitration.

University of Miami In 1967, Mentschikoff began teaching one semester each year at University of Miami School of Law. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972. She finally left the University of Chicago for good in 1974, when she was named dean of University of Miami School of Law, a position she would hold until her retirement in 1982. During her tenure as dean, she worked to limit enrollment, improve the law library, and hire quality faculty. In her honor, the University of Miami Law School published a series of essays regarding her career and contributions in its Inter-American Law Review.