Faculty
Professor Louis E. Caldera
Professor of Law
B.S. 1978, U.S. Military Academy
J.D. 1987, Harvard Law School
M.B.A. 1987, Harvard Business School
Louis Caldera has had a distinguished 30-year public service career as a soldier, lawyer, legislator, high ranking government official, university president and professor of law.
Following graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, Caldera served as a U.S. Army officer in the active and reserve components. After earning his law and business degrees, he practiced in the areas of corporate, banking and public finance law, including with the law firm of O’Melveny & Myers in its Los Angeles offices. He subsequently became a deputy county counsel for Los Angeles County, handling a variety of civil litigation matters for the county.
In 1992, Caldera was elected to the California State Assembly, and for five years he represented a multicultural, downtown Los Angeles-based district. As a legislator, he chaired the Banking, Revenue and Taxation, and Budget committees and was a leader in promoting education reform and children’s heath and safety measures. During this period he also taught as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School.
Subsequently, Caldera served in President Bill Clinton's Administration in two U.S. Senate-confirmed positions. He was managing director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal grant-making agency that sponsors the Americorps volunteer service program, and from 1998 to 2001 he was the nation’s 17th Secretary of the Army.
Caldera has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards and commissions. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Claremont McKenna College and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Since 2001, Caldera has worked in higher education, first as a vice chancellor for the California State University system. From 2003 to 2006, he was president of the University of New Mexico, after which he joined the faculty of the UNM School of Law as a tenured professor.
Contact Information
Ph.: 505-277-1369
Fax: 505-277-0068
Office: 3238
Email: caldera@law.unm.edu
