Paula Estrada de Martin Named Natural Sciences' Outstanding Alumna

A senior associate at WilmerHale, a major New York law firm, Paula Estrada de Martin has been named the 2014 outstanding alumna for the College of Natural Sciences at Cal State San Bernardino. Estrada de Martin received her honor at the college’s commencement ceremony held recently at CSUSB’s Coussoulis Arena. Estrada de Martin graduated from CSUSB in 1995 with her bachelor’s degree in biology, and followed that with a master’s in biology in 1997. That year, she was named the college’s Outstanding Graduate Student. She went on to Yale University on a full scholarship, earning a second master’s as well as a Ph.D. Given her science background, Estrada de Martin was pursued by WilmerHale, a major New York law firm with a national and international reputation, about working as a technology specialist in intellectual property. The former Rialto resident and Eisenhower High School graduate has now been with the firm since 2005. In 2010, Estrada de Martin earned her juris doctorate from New York Law School, where she continues to teach as adjunct faculty today. At WilmerHale, Estrada de Martin’s primary work is in litigation support, focusing on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution for life science, biotechnology and plant fields. She has authored many publications, and is the co-chair on the Pro-bono Committee for the IP Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. She also is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the National Hispanic Bar Association, among memberships with other organizations. One of Estrada de Martin’s mentors while attending CSUSB was biology professor Richard Fehn. The two kept in touch throughout the years as she went to Yale, began work at WilmerHale and then attended law school. He was a part of all of those decisions, she mentioned. Fehn died of prostate cancer in 2007, but Estrada de Martin still recalls his encouragement when she expressed concern about whether or not she could succeed at Yale. He told her what she, as an adjunct professor at New York Law School, tells her students now. Whatever their background, what they need to tell themselves is, she says, “It’s what I can do; it’s the skills that I have that count the most.”