Judge Patricio M. SernaSilver City, NM - Retired Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court Judge Patricio M. Serna will deliver the keynote speech at the spring commencement ceremony on Friday, May 13 at 3:00 p.m. in Ben Altamirano Field.

Justice Serna retired from the New Mexico Supreme Court on August 24, 2012 having served as Justice since 1996. He served as Chief Justice during 2001 and 2002. He was appointed as a District Judge to the First Judicial District in Santa Fe and served from 1985 until 1996. This service included a term as Chief Judge and also a term as President of the New Mexico District Judges Association.

As the first person in his family to attend college, Justice Serna earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Denver School of Law, a Master of Laws (L.L.M.) degree from Harvard Law School, and an honorary Doctor of Laws (S.J.D.) degree form the University of Denver School of Law.

He taught as an adjunct professor of Georgetown University Law School and Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His legal opinions appeared in the last 30 volumes of the New Mexico Law Reports.

Among his awards and honors, Justice Serna was named one of Hispanic Business Magazine's 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America, and received the Judge of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Bar Association. A former President/Moderator of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, Justice Serna remains as Emeritus on the Board of Directors.

In 2009, Justice Serna was awarded the Thompson G. Marsh Award from the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law. In 2012, he received several awards including the Justice Seth Montgomery Distinguished Judicial Service Award from the State Bar of New Mexico, the National Hispanic Lifetime Achievement Award, and the MALDEF Lifetime Achievement Award in Excellence in Judicial Service.