Vilma Socorro Martínez

Vilma Socorro Martínez (born October 17, 1943) is an American lawyer, civil rights activist and diplomat who formerly served as the U.S. ambassador to Argentina from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama.

Biography Early life

Vilma Socorro Martínez was born to Marina and Salvador Martínez, a Mexican-American couple living in San Antonio, Texas. She studied at the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving her bachelor's degree, Martínez went on to Columbia Law School and graduated in 1967.

Legal career

Vilma Socorro Martínez then joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). At LDF, she defended a number of poor and minority clients. was brought by Romana Serna on behalf of her daughter, Judy Serna, who attended the Portales Municipal School District. The ruling was enforceable in all states within the U.S. Tenth Circuit: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma. The decision expanded the language rights of public school children outlined in the Lau v. Nichols U.S. Supreme Court case, which was decided earlier the same year. The Lau case mandated schools, not students, bear the responsibility of addressing the language needs of the students; however, it gave little guidance as to how. Bilingual education was a mere suggestion. The Serna case made explicit the right of minority language students to be taught at school not only in English, but in their home languages. In addition to a right to a bilingual education, the case asserted the students' right to a culturally relevant curriculum and to have as their teachers, administrators, and other school staff competent adults whose cultural and linguistic identities reflected those of the minority students. At the time of the suit, there were no teachers or other staff at any of the district's schools who were Spanish surnamed, or who spoke Spanish, or who could teach in Spanish, even though 34% of the students in the district's four elementary schools and 29% and 17% at the junior and senior high schools, respectively, were so identified.

From 1977 to 1981, Vilma Socorro Martínez joined an advisory board that reviewed appointments to ambassadorial positions around the world. In 1982, Vilma Socorro Martínez became a partner at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, specializing in resolving labor disputes. She had never been to Argentina before accepting the position. Her role included the diplomatic management of the NASA-CONAE project that launched the SAC-D satellite into space, She ended her tenure in Argentina on July 4, 2013.

In a leaked diplomatic cable, she described Mauricio Macri, who intended to run for the 2011 elections, as "uneducated". Il also appeared that he asked Vilma Socorro Martínez to be stiffer with then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Other roles

1976-1990: Board of Regents of the University of California (and Chairman from 1984 to 1986) Member of Walmart's Employment Advisory Panel 1988: Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Texas American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award Columbia University Medal for Excellence 2013: Grand Cross of the Order of May

Personal life

Vilma Socorro Martínez is married to an attorney, Stuart Singer, and has two sons, Carlos and Ricardo.