Miriam Naveira de Merly (July 28, 1934 – April 15, 2018) was a Puerto Rican

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

who served in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico from 1985 to 2004. Naveira was the first woman to serve on the court as well as the first female Chief Justice (2003-2004).

Biography

Naveira was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1934. She obtained her bachelor's degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and her

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. Naveira was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1985 by Governor Rafael Hernández Colón, becoming the first woman on that court. During her tenure, Naveira was known as a pragmatic and moderate justice. After the retirement of Chief Justice

José Andreu García José Antonio Andreu García (September 18, 1937 – January 10, 2019) was a Puerto Rican jurist who served as the 13th chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico from 1992 to 2003. He was known for his moderate approach to constitutional ...

in 2003, Governor Sila Calderón elevated Justice Naveira to the post of Chief Justice. However, her tenure lasted only seven months since the

Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government a ...

states that Supreme Court Justices must retire at the age of seventy. Chief Justice Miriam Naveira retired in July 2004. She was succeeded by her colleague

Federico Hernández Denton Federico Hernández Denton (born April 12, 1944 Santurce, Puerto Rico) was the 15th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Biography Hernández Denton received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1966 and a Juris Doctor from ...

. Her daughter Miriam Rodón Naveira is an

environmental scientist Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

working at the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

which was awarded a Silver Medal for Superior Service and a Suzanne Olive EEO and Diversity Award both by the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

.''NASA Dryden funding supports Valley Fever research.''
Beth Hagenauer. Antelope Valley Times. 18 June 2013. She was also the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

woman to serve as branch chief of the

National Exposure Research Laboratory The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) is a national laboratory that conducts research and development to find improved methods, measurements, and models to assess and predict exposures of humans and ...

(NERL) and later the first Hispanic woman to become deputy director of NERL's Environmental Sciences Division.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Naveira, Miriam 1934 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers 20th-century American women judges Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico College of Mount Saint Vincent alumni Constitutional court women judges Hispanic and Latino American judges People from Santurce, Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni Women chief justices 20th-century Puerto Rican women lawyers

Biography

See also

References