The University of North Dakota School of Law is pleased to welcome Chief Justice Hanan Gamal Dahroug, Chief Justice in the Cairo Economic Court as the honored lecturer for the Oscar and Amelia Fode Memorial Law Lecture.
Monday, November 5, 2012
3:45 p.m. - Reception, Bright Reading Room (sponsored by the SBAND Women Lawyers Section)
4:30 p.m. - *Fode Lecture featuring Judge Hanan Dahroug, Baker Courtroom
* The Lecture is free and open to the public and is approved for 1 hour North Dakota CLE.
Judge Hanan Dahroug
Chief Justice Hanan Gamal Dahroug, Chief Justice in the Cairo Economic Court, received a Bachelor of Law degree from Cairo University in 1991. She began work in the Administrative Prosecution Authority (1995) and was promoted until reaching the rank of Chief of the Administrative Authority.
She was the first female judge appointed in Egypt (2007). She began as a judge in the South Cairo Court handling civil, rent and taxes cases. She then began serving in the Economic Court at the time of its establishment (2008-present). The Economic Court is the first court specializing in investment and banking cases, with the goal of attracting investment in Egypt by streamlining the legal process for these cases, making investors feel that their investments are protected by law with high efficiency and professional judges.
She also has experience in criminal economic cases involving matters such as capital markets, copyright, telecommunications and e-signatures. She was the first woman to take part in parliamentary elections (2004) and subsequently supervised parliamentary and presidential elections. She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges in the United States, of the International Association of Women Judges, and of the Legal Network for Arab Women.
Oscar and Amelia Fode
The Fode Lecture was established in memory of Amelia and Oscar Fode through a gift made to the UND Foundation by Della Mae Ramstad in honor of her parents. The fund is designated to bring leading international jurists, lawyers and legal scholars to the UND School of Law.
Oscar Fode was born in 1894, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Fode, who homesteaded in Logan County, North Dakota. He attended school in Gackle, N.D. and graduated from Dakota Business College in Fargo. During World War I, Mr. Fode enlisted in the U.S. Army engineers. He rose to the rank of sergeant, which he held at the time of his discharge in July 1919 after his return from overseas.
Amelia Zimmerman was born in 1903 in Gackle, where her parents Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Zimmerman homesteaded, and received her early education there. The marriage of Oscar and Amelia took place on August 21, 1921. The Fodes established their first home in Gackle, then moved to New Salem, N.D. where Mr. Fode was employed in the bank, and then to Jamestown, N.D. in 1929, which remained their home for 31 years.
The Fodes began an automobile business known as Midwest Motors in Jamestown in 1929, subsequently establishing Midwest Credit Co., Midwest Machine Co., Midwest Service Co., Midwest Insurance Co., and Dakota Sales and Service, which Mr. Fode continued to operate until his death in 1971. Mrs. Fode died in
1961.
Mr. Fode was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, a member of Jamestown Masonic bodies, A.F. and A.M. No. 6, RAM Chapter No. 6, Wi Ha Ha Commandry No. 4, Knights Templar and El Zagel Shrine, B.P.O. Elks 995, life member and past commander of Ernest DeNault Robertson Post 14 of the American Legion, past president of the Jamestown Lions Club and past District Governor, and past president of the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce, from which he received the Distinguished Citizen Award. He received an honorary Life Membership in Lions and American Legion for his service to both organizations.
During his business career, he served as Chairman of the regional Dealer Advisory Council for the Dodge Division of the Chrysler Corporation, president of the North Dakota Automobile Dealers Association, president of the North Dakota Implement Dealers Association, and member-at-large of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was a recipient of the coveted Silver Beaver Award in scouting. He was a member of the Central Dakota Nursing Home advisory board from its inception and a director of the Jamestown National Bank. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the North Dakota Independent College Fund, and for may years, was active in fund raising for Jamestown College, where the Oscar W. and Amelia Z. Fode Scholarship, established by Mr. and Mrs. Fode, remains a source of financial aid for deserving students.
Mrs. Fode played an important part in many worthwhile projects for the betterment of her community and her country, and to these interests she gave freely of her time and energy. She took a keen interest in the disabled-- the physically handicapped, the mentally ill, those afflicted with cerebral palsy, and it was her joy to bring comfort and cheer to these people.
At the time of her death she was serving as Associate Matron of Lady Washington Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, Jamestown.
As a member of the American Legion Auxiliary her interest took her through the various chairmanships to the local presidency, and then into department work, and in 1951-1952, the department presidency. For several years she served on the Girls' State staff, acting as Dean of Auxiliary Counselors. Her interest in American Legion Auxiliary work never waned, and her counsel was much sought after and was an inspiration to the membership.
She was a member of the first Cerebral Palsy Council and personally sponsored a Girl Scout troop at the Crippled Children School in Jamestown. She was a past officer of the Order of Beauceant, Jamestown Zonta Club, B.P.O. Does, and a member of the first Board of Directors of the Easter Seal Society in 1947, serving as vice president and secretary. She was general chairman of the first Cerebral Palsy Clinic held in the state.
Mrs. Fode was a member of the first board of directors of the North Dakota Mental Health Association in 1952 and was on the Executive Board of the Mental Health Volunteers for the North Dakota State Hospital.
During World War II, she worked hundreds of hours as a volunteer nurse's aide at the hospitals in Jamestown. She maintained an active interest in helping others until her death.
The Fode Family and the Law
As a young man, Mr. Fode's goal was to attend college and law school. Realizing his financial inability to go on to school, he purchased a set of law books which he studied whenever time permitted.
He worked sixteen to eighteen hours most days to keep his business operating. His time and energy were being consumed, but his strong desire for more education continued. As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Fode were financially able, they aided students desiring to further their education through scholarships they established for deserving students. It was in this spirit that the Memorial Law Lectureship was established by the Ramstad family.
Della Mae (Fode) Ramstad was a 1943 graduate of the University of North Dakota. She and her husband Marvin J. Ramstad, a 1943 graduate of the University of Washington, operated the family business in Jamestown. Their son, former United States Congressman, Jim Ramstad, attended UND in 1964-65, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Minnesota in 1968. Congressman Ramstad earned his Juris Doctor degree, with honors, at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in 1973. He served in the Minnesota State Senate for ten years prior to being elected to the United States Congress in 1990. Their daughter, the Honorable Sheryl Ramstad, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota. In 1975 she graduated from UND Law School, where she served as an editor of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She was both a prosecutor and public defender before being appointed a Minnesota State Court Judge. She left the bench to practice law as a partner at the Rider Bennett Law Firm in Minneapolis while also serving as the President of the Minnesota State Bar Association. She was appointed the Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections and later as a judge on the Minnesota Tax Court, where she is currently serving.