Mary Bird
Director of Public Service Programs
Biography
Mary Bird has worked in the area of children's rights and education for over twenty years. She practiced as a supervising attorney at the Office of the Public Guardian and as a staff attorney in the Children's Rights Project of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. Ms. Bird has represented children, parents, and relative caretakers in the Abuse and Neglect Division of Juvenile Court.
Serving as the first attorney for the Office of the Inspector General for DCFS, which investigates complaints against the Department and its employees, Ms. Bird assisted in the initial programmatic design and implementation of employee standards, ethical norms, and investigative procedures. Ms. Bird participated in numerous investigations relating to DCFS malfeasance while working for the OIG.
Ms. Bird has a strong interest in civic engagement by young people. For over fifteen years, Ms. Bird has coordinated Loyola's Street Law program, which places law students in high schools to assist in teaching law. She worked with law students to develop Loyola's Law Related Education in the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center program, a student volunteer program that attracts as many as fifty students each semester. Ms. Bird has recently become involved in pipeline programs aimed at increasing minority involvement in the legal profession. She serves as faculty advisor to the Loyola Pipeline Project, which is aimed at exposing minority students to the legal profession while assisting them in the very practical tasks of preparing for college entrance exams and writing college essays.
Ms. Bird recently worked with the DCFS Office of the Inspector General and a Loyola law student, developing a handbook and training for undocumented wards who are seeking citizenship. Ms. Bird serves as a Senior Advocate with the Immigrant Child Advocacy Center, working with unaccompanied and separated refugee and immigrant children.
Ms. Bird and her husband, John Murphy (JD Loyola, 1986), are the parents of three children and live in Oak Park. Ms. Bird has been active on the school leadership team and on PTO committees in the Oak Park public schools. She has worked to incorporate and maintain Spanish in the elementary school curriculum. Ms. Bird regularly addresses equity issues in Oak Park schools, including policies and practices that contribute to the minority achievement gap.
Education
B.A., Catholic University of America, 1980
J.D., Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 1987 |
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Loyola University Chicago
School of Law
25 E. Pearson Street
Room 1346
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 915-7661
Fax: (312) 915-7201
Email: mbird1@luc.edu
Fall 2008 Teaching Schedule
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