2009 Native American Alumni Hall of Fame Inductee Hilary Tompkins 1967 - Appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, Hilary Tompkins became the first Native American to hold that position. The chief general counsel for the Interior, Tompkins represents the Department in judicial litigation, negotiations and contracts with Congress, federal agencies, states, tribes and the public. Born in New Mexico then adopted by a family in New Jersey, Tompkins did not meet other Natives until the age of fifteen while at boarding school. Receiving scholarships from the Navajo Nation, she attended Dartmouth, became involved with the community of Native students there and pursued her interest in cultural identity. After graduation, she worked as a law clerk for the Navajo Nation Supreme Court, then, after passing the Navajo Nation Bar exam, as a tribal court advocate for their Department of Justice. Admitted to Stanford Law School, she was an active member of the campus Native American Law Student Association and associate editor of the Stanford Law Review. Receiving her Juris Doctor in 1996, Tompkins was recruited by a national law firm devoted to representing Native American interests in legal areas. During the Clinton administration, Tompkins served as a trial lawyer in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice responsible for civil prosecutions in environmental cases nationwide. She also worked as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. New Mexico Governor Richardson hired Tompkins in 2002 as general counsel (and later as chief counsel) to advise him on legislation and governmental affairs. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Mexico Law School. In August 2009, Solicitor Tompkins, accompanied by Interior Secretary Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Echo Hawk, returned to Arizona to meet with the Navajo Intergovernmental Relations Committee and increase awareness of Native issues. Addressing the IGR, Tompkins thanked them for making her education possible. Without her roots and continued relationship with the tribe she said, the long road would have been impassible: To be Navajo, Dine' nishli', is how I view who I am. It would be hard to be the first Native American solicitor without knowing what that meant in my heart.