Posted on Jul 24, 2007

Alumni, Judith Dein, 1976

Arriving on campus in 1972, just months after Union graduated its first coed class, Judith Dein '76 found a college struggling to incorporate women into its culture. She soon became involved in issues of the day, from the Vietnam War to the impact of the new hockey rink to the role of women on campus and in society.

"No matter was too large or too small," says Dein, who majored in American Studies, was co-editor-in-chief of Concordiensis and a founder of the investigative student newspaper, the Campus Voice. She was also active in the Women's Caucus and the College president's Commission on the Status of Women and Task Force on Race Relations.

"As students and as women, we thought we'd be able to run the world. There was no doubt in our minds that we could and would change the world for the better. I guess the jury is still out on that one."

Today, Dein rules from a courtroom bench in Boston, where she is a United States magistrate judge for the District of Massachusetts, in the sixth year of an eight-year appointment. Her job includes both civil litigation and such criminal matters as pretrial proceedings, initial detention hearings and search warrants. In December 2001 she found herself in the media spotlight when she arraigned "shoe bomber" Richard Reid and remanded him to jail without bail.

"It's a little strange to find myself in a high profile job because I don't see myself that way," she says. She recalls being surprised and pleased when a stranger stopped her one day at her local car wash. "He recognized me, even though I was in my sweatpants and baseball cap. He said, ‘You swore me in as a citizen; that was the most important day of my life.' I can't remember ever feeling more honored and satisfied about the work that I do."

In addition to new citizen naturalizations, Dein presides over jury and jury-waived trials, holds hearings, authors opinions and conducts mediations.

"The law is a great career," says Dein, who lives with her husband, Alan M. Reisch '75, and their teenage son. "I feel like I'm making a contribution. I believe strongly in the judicial system, and I truly love coming to work."

Dein and Reisch, both resident advisors at Union, really got to know each other while evacuating Fox Hall during a series of bomb scares in fall 1974. Both went on to graduate from Boston College Law School, with Dein graduating cum laude in 1979. Clerkships and private practice followed, including several years as a partner at Hale and Dorr, and then Warner & Stackpole, where she concentrated in commercial and employment litigation.

She is active in many youth education projects and participates in bar-sponsored legal seminars and in the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Program. In 2002, she and Reisch, who majored in political science, endowed an annual scholarship to help support a Union student interested in political science.

At Union, Dein combined courses in English, history and political science. She was inspired by Professors Stephen Berk (Holocaust and Jewish Studies), Robert Wells (American Studies), Manfred Jonas (History), Frank Gato (English), and Byron Nichols and the late Charles Tidmarch (Political Science).

"American Studies was one of the first interdisciplinary majors, a way to take courses in diverse fields and see a subject from different points of view," says Dein. "It's a theme – I tried to never limit my options."

Dein was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and honored with the prestigious Bailey Cup for her campus involvement. She graduated summa cum laude.

"I loved Union. It was intellectually challenging, and I made lifelong friends," says Dein. "Going back for my 30th ReUnion last year was a pleasure. There were all these women with great careers who had lived through the same work and life struggles as I had. We had a lot to talk about."