The Virginia Nordby Papers (1972-1992) document the professional activities of Virginia Nordby during her tenure as a University of Michigan administrator and Law School lecturer. The papers have been divided into three principal series: University Policy and Affirmative Action, Topical Files, and Professional Files.
Series one, University Policy and Affirmative Action contains files relating to Nordby's work for the University of Michigan, including research and policy proposals regarding the student code of conduct, faculty and staff policies, and student affairs. Series two contains Nordby's topical research files relating to her university work and other professional work, namely student discriminatory policy, Title IX and Athletics, and Labor issues. Series three, Professional Files, contains files related to Nordby's legal work, consulting, and speeches given outside of her capacity as a University of Michigan administrator.
Researchers should note that the language used in the collection and finding aid surrounding sexual violence reflects the language in use during Virginia Nordby's career. Some of the language in the descriptive notes has been updated to include currently accepted terminology in 2023. All folder titles in this collection are original, and reflect the language in use during Nordby's career. Original folder titles may include outdated or harmful descriptive language. Original folder titles have been maintained to preserve the original context of how the creator labeled their files.
Virginia Nordby was born Virginia Blomer in Chicago, Illinois in 1929. After matriculating at Stanford University, she graduated with distinction receiving a BA in English literature in 1951. As an undergraduate she also studied American history, philosophy and French. Three years later she received a J.D. from the Stanford School of Law. During her years at Stanford, she sat on the Board of Editors of the Stanford Law Review, serving as Article and Book Review Editor during her second and third years. Between her second and third years of law school Blomer married Gordon L. Nordby, who was a Stanford Ph.D. candidate in who was working on a dissertation in Chemistry, with a concentration in Biological Chemistry and Numerical Analysis.
After serving as a research assistant for a University of Michigan law professor during the 1960's, Nordby became a lecturer in the School of Law in 1973, where she developed a course on women and the law. Also at this time, she became a consultant to the Michigan Women's Task Force on Rape. In this capacity, she was the principal drafter of the Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Act, Public Act 266, 1974. The act itself revolutionized perceptions and interpretations of rape in Michigan, including providing language for marital rape and male victims of sexual violence. In addition, it created a "shield" provision which bars evidence about unrelated and irrelevant aspects of the victim's sexual history.
In 1975 she became a policy advisor in the university's Office of the President, a position which she held until 1988. She also served as the university's director of Affirmative Action, beginning in 1980. Nordby was promoted to associate vice president for government relations in 1988. At the time of her appointment she was also named secretary of the University of Michigan and she began serving as the university's chief freedom of information officer. During this period she was actively involved in the formulation and implementation of the university's student code of conduct, parts of which were later declared unconstitutional. After three years in government relations, she became associate vice-president for student affairs. In 1991, Nordby was honored with induction into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. She retired from the university in 1993. Her husband Gordon Nordby spent his career teaching at the U-M Medical School. His scientific research was dedicated to the developing computer-based mathematical structures that were isomorphic to the biological system.
This collection was initially processed in 1993 June by project archivist, Thomas A. La Porte, with additional accessions processed by project archivist, Cory T. Brandt, in 1993 September. In 2023 August, processing archivist, Gideon Goodrich, processed the 2018 accession of professional files and Gordon Nordby's professional files. In addition, they reviewed the finding aid for outdated language surrounding sexual violence, as well as adding contextual description to the scope and content, and biographical notes.
