Francine Bazluke, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel at the University of Vermont, has been appointed as a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

According to the foundation, membership in the Fellows is limited to less than one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.  Members are nominated by Fellows in their jurisdiction and elected by the Board of the American Bar Foundation.

The American Bar Foundation is an organization dedicated to advancing justice through rigorous research on the law, legal processes, and the law's impact on society.

The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation is an honorary organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession. The fellows support the research of the foundation through their annual contributions and sponsor programming of direct relevance to leaders of the legal profession.

Bazluke joined the UVM Office of the General Counsel in 1985 and has served as general counsel since 1994. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School. She served as a law clerk for the Honorable Albert W. Coffrin, U.S. District Court, District of Vermont, and her experience before joining the UVM Office of the General Counsel also includes service as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., and in private practice at a Burlington, Vermont, law firm. Bazluke is a past president of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and has authored various professional publications, given conference presentations regarding legal issues in higher education, and taught graduate students enrolled in the UVM Higher Education Student Affairs program.