Vice President Kamala Harris '89 Accepts Nomination for President

After a decades-long career as a prosecutor, state attorney general, U.S. senator and vice president, UC Law SF alumna Kamala Harris ’89 is the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2024.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a 1989 graduate of UC Law San Francisco, made history Thursday night when she formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. 

Harris, who announced her run for president in July, is the first Black and South-Asian woman to be nominated by a major political party for president of the United States. 

“Every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge, and I said five words: Kamala Harris for the people,” she said in her address to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22. 

Harris’ career since graduating from UC Law SF (then known as UC Hastings), includes working with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office as deputy district attorney and in 1998, joining the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where, among other posts, she led the Career Criminal Unit. She was elected district attorney in 2003, defeating two-term incumbent Terence Hallinan and won an unopposed second term in 2007.  

In 2010, Harris was elected as California’s 32nd attorney general. She ran for U.S. Senate in 2016, winning the seat Barbara Boxer held for more than 20 years. Harris was then elected vice president as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020.  

“Vice President Harris’ nomination is an historic moment for UC Law San Francisco.  It’s a powerful reminder to our students that the highest levels of achievement are possible with a UC Law SF degree,” said Chancellor & Dean David L. Faigman. “Each level of success that she’s earned as a prosecutor, public servant, advocate, and leader brings tremendous pride to our community and highlights the strength of a UC Law SF education. I’m honored to congratulate her.” 

Discussing her agenda as California’s attorney general in the Spring 2013 issue of the UC Hastings magazine, Harris said, “It’s incumbent on everyone to consider the moment and decide what side of history they want to be on.”  

Harris delivered the 2005 keynote commencement address to UC Law SF graduates.