Victoria Palacios, Associate Professor of Law at Dedman School of Law, joined the SMU faculty in 1991. She earned a J.D. degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and held the Hastie Fellowship Internship at the University of Wisconsin College of Law. She teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law, constitutional criminal procedure, actual innocence and the death penalty. She has been co-advisor for the Hispanic American Law Student Association for 27 years, directed the Oxford Summer Program, served on several law school committees and on SMU's Faculty Senate. She authored an NIC monograph, Parole Law. Prior to SMU, she taught at the University of Notre Dame and at the University of Utah. Prior to academia, she chaired the Utah State Board of Pardons, served as a consultant for the National Institute of Corrections, and was an Administrative Law Judge and Hearing Officer for state and federal EEO agencies. She received the Chicano Unity Conference Award for Activities involving Hispanic Women and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She was recognized by late Utah Governor Scott Matheson for outstanding public service. She retires as Professor Emerita of Law.