Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney and a 1986 graduate of IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, will deliver the keynote address at the law school’s 2011 Commencement on Sunday, May 15, at 2:30 pm. The ceremony will be held at the UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd. Alvarez made history when she was sworn in on December 1, 2008, as the Cook County State’s Attorney. The first female and first Latina elected to this position, she is also the first career prosecutor to hold this post, having spent her entire legal career serving the victims of violent crime.

She began her career in the State’s Attorney’s Office in 1986 and worked her way up through the ranks, handling hundreds of felony cases along the way. These cases ranged from homicides, narcotics and armed robberies to criminal sexual assaults and domestic violence cases. She has argued before the Illinois Appellate Court and handled more than 50 felony jury trials. In her capacity as State’s Attorney, Alvarez leads the second largest prosecutor’s office in the nation, supervising more than 1,600 employees whose primary responsibilities involve prosecuting violent crime and seeking justice on behalf of crime victims and their families.

A lifelong Chicagoan, Alvarez was born and raised in Chicago’s Pilsen community. She is a graduate of Maria High School and Loyola University, and received her J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1986. Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law.