Mary Ellen Callahan, Vice-Chair Exercising the Duties of Chair, of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, will receive an honorary degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law at the Class of 2020 Commencement Celebration on Sat., April 30, 2022, at 4 p.m.
Mary Ellen was the Assistant General Counsel – Privacy with The Walt Disney Company from 2017 to 2021. She founded and chaired Jenner & Block’s Privacy and Information Governance Practice from 2012 to 2017 and served as chief privacy officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from March 2009 until Aug. 2012. In 2013, Mary Ellen received the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Vanguard Award, an annual award honoring the privacy professional who demonstrated outstanding leadership, knowledge, and creativity in privacy and data protection.
A Chancellor’s Scholar, Mary Ellen received her Bachelor of Philosophy in Political Science, Russian/Eastern European Studies in 1990 from the University of Pittsburgh’s Honors College. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago School.
Mary Ellen has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2009 and has served as Vice-Chair since February 2020. She has served on various Trustee committees, including chairing the Academic Affairs/Libraries Committee from 2011 to 2017 and the Student Affairs Committee from 2017-to 2021. She is also a recipient of the University’s 225th Anniversary Medallion and chaired the University Honors College Board of Visitors.