Ruthe Catolico Ashley, RN, MSN, JD, a member of the State Bar of California Board of Governors, is the Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development for the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. A 1988 graduate of Pacific McGeorge, Ms. Ashley practiced law for 14 years prior to returning to her alma mater. Her prior legal experience includes trial work in both large and small law firms. In 1998, she was a founding partner at the first Asian-American women-owned law firm in the greater Sacramento area which specialized in healthcare law, civil rights, employment, and business litigation. Ms. Ashley was a nurse for 15 years prior to becoming a lawyer. Her nursing career included public health nursing and as an Assistant Professor of Nursing for a baccalaureate nursing program.

Ms. Ashley has authored several articles for healthcare and legal publications. She was included in the American Bar Association’s recently-released book, "Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters" which incorporated Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women Attorneys Who’ve Been There and Done That. She was also featured in "Perspectives", a publication for and about Women Lawyers released by the American Bar Association in an issue featuring multicultural women lawyers. She authors a continuing legal column in the Journal of Cardiac Nursing. Most recently, Ms. Ashley was featured as one of Ten Fascinating Women for the April 2005 issue of Filipinas Magazine.

Ms. Ashley has a strong commitment to the greater Sacramento and Asian Pacific American (APA) community and is involved in numerous community, professional and political activities. Awards include the Heritage Award presented by the State Assembly (2005), "Filipina’s Who Could be President (2004), Lifetime Achievement Award from Pace University School of Law (2004), the Unity Award for her community service from the Unity Bar Association (2002), the Unsung Heroes Award from Sacramento’s public television station KVIE and Union Bank for her volunteerism and activism (2001), the "Trailblazer Award" (1998) at an annual lawyer convention for her leadership in a unique and innovative organization in the Sacramento area called the Unity Bar Association. She is a past president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) which represents the interests of 40,000 APA lawyers across the nation, a past president of Legal Services of Northern California, a past chair of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Asian Bar Association of Sacramento. She was a Governor Appointee to the Developmentally Disabled Area III Board. She continues to serve on other boards and commissions including the California State University Foundation Board, Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), and American Bar Association’s Bar Activities committee. She is also a dynamic and entertaining professional speaker who presents seminars nationally to healthcare and legal professionals.

Ms. Ashley is a frequent speaker to school groups of all ages in sharing her story of the American Dream. She actively seeks opportunities to mentor and support young people and believes being a role model for the younger generation is an important aspect of passing on the torch and building leaders. However, Ms. Ashley considers her greatest accomplishments are son Michael (31) and daughter Leilani (28).

Ms. Ashley has been married to husband, Roger, for almost 36 years and looks forward to many more.