Tulane Law alumnae named to diplomatic posts

Two Tulane Law alumnae have been confirmed to ambassadorships within the Biden administration, and another has been appointed Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

Vicky Reggie Kennedy (NC ’76, L’79), formerly a senior counsel at Greenberg, Traurig, was confirmed as Ambassador to Austria in October while Jamie L. Harpootlian (L’84), formerly with the firm of Richard A. Harpootlian in Columbia, S.C., was confirmed as Ambassador to Slovenia in December.

On the WTO, alumna Angela Paolini Ellard (NC '82, G '83, L '86), an internationally recognized expert on trade and international economic policy, was appointed last summer as one of four Deputy Directors-General of the World Trade Organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland. 

“We are enormously proud that our distinguished alumnae have been nominated for these key diplomatic posts,” said law Dean David Meyer. “At a time when diplomacy has never been more important, their long records of forging common cause for the public good make them exceptionally qualified to represent the United States abroad.”

Kennedy serves on the law Dean’s Advisory Board and has devoted her life to public service fighting gun violence and promoting civic education and engagement.  She is the president of the board and co-founder of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a non-partisan non-profit honoring her late husband that educates the public about the Senate and inspires civic engagement and bi-partisanship. She also is a founder and past president of Common Sense About Kids and Guns, an advocacy group that aims to reduce child gun deaths.

She is the recipient of eight honorary degrees and civic awards and chairs the Education Committee of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and is on the Board of other non-profit and civic organizations.

While at Tulane Law, Kennedy was a member of the Tulane Law Review and graduated summa cum laude in 1979. In recent years, she spoke to Tulane Law graduates as commencement speaker and gave the keynote at the 2017 Tulane Celebration of Scholarship, an event where students meet the donors who established their scholarships. With other members of her family, she has endowed a scholarship at Tulane Law honoring her late father, Judge Edmund M. Reggie, a legendary Louisiana political figure, and a 1949 Tulane Law graduate.

Harpootlian’s practice centers on federal litigation; she has served as a court-appointed Special Master to facilitate case resolution in complex, mass disaster class actions. The Department of Justice appointed Harpootlian to serve as a Hearing Officer for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 on behalf of the Special Master Kenneth Feinberg. 

Prior to her appointments, Harpootlian served 17 years as a career judicial law clerk in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans, where she provided legal advice to the Court to assist in making decisions in civil and criminal actions. She is a leader and patron of non-profit groups supporting the environment, the arts, and historic resources.  Harpootlian earned a B.A. in Political Science and Art History from Mary Baldwin University in Virginia in 1981 and her JD from Tulane Law School.

On the WTO, Ellard serves as one of two women serving as deputies to Dr. Ngozi Okonio-Iweala, the first woman, and first African, to serve as the WTO’s Director General.

Ellard fell in love with public policy during her 26 years on Capitol Hill. After law school, she went into private practice in D.C., and eventually served in Congress as the Republicans’ Majority and Minority Chief Trade Counsel, negotiating bipartisan trade agreements within Congress, with senior officials of the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, and with foreign officials. When her appointment as Deputy Director-General was announced, members of Congress from both parties lauded Ellard’s expertise and commitment during her time on the Hill.

Ellard graduated cum laude from Tulane Law and received her Master of Arts in Public Policy from Tulane and her Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Newcomb College. Her father was the late Gilberto Paolini, professor emeritus of Spanish and comparative literature at Tulane.  Her mother earned her PhD and her brother both his B.A. and B.S. from Tulane. Her time in law school was spent studying international law and business law, and she also developed a passion for Moot Court, which she said has helped her in her career in understanding the art of negotiation.