AUGUSTA — Former Senate President Libby Mitchell of Vassalboro will be honored Friday by the Women’s Law Association at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland.

Mitchell will receive the Outstanding Alumna Award, which is given each fall to one woman who makes outstanding contributions to the legal community, the school announced Tuesday.

“Libby mentored generations of female candidates and legislators to advocate for their friends, families, communities, and constituents in the halls of the State House, all while raising four children and changing the face of politics in Maine,” said law student Carly Traub, in a statement.

Mitchell, 72, was Maine’s first female speaker of the House in 1996 and served nearly continuously in the Legislature between 1974 and 2010. After serving as Senate president from 2008-2010, she was the Democratic nominee for governor, finishing third behind Paul LePage and Eliot Cutler.

Mitchell will join the list of other alumna who have won the award, including former U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby, Justice Nancy Mills and Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley.

Mitchell will be honored at a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday at Glickman Library on Forest Avenue in Portland. The event is free and open to the public.


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