Herma Hill Kay, a leader of women in law and the first female dean at a top 10 school, died on June 10.

Kay, a longtime friend of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who served as dean at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law from 1992 to 2000, passed away in her sleep, according to interim Berkeley Dean Melissa Murray. She was 82.

Kay was a prominent name in the legal academy, having been a member of the Berkeley Law faculty since 1960, an advocate for women in law, and a mentor to many attorneys and law students over the years. In a message to the Berkeley law community, Murray called her “the stuff of legends.”