Elizabeth F. Gervais-Gruen

Elizabeth F. Gervais-Gruen was born in Papa, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Speaking no English, she immigrated to the United States, when she was eight. After having earned her undergraduate and law degrees from St. John's University, she formed the Nassau County Women's Bar Association. Her first involvement with U.S. immigration law came while providing pro bono assistance to World War II era refugees. After relocating from New York to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1976, she was one of the seven attorneys who founded what is now the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Carolinas Chapter. She served on AILA's national Board of Governors for eight years. She is currently serves on the boards of the North Carolina Farm Workers Legal Services and the Immigration Law Project.