Memorial services for Margaret “Maggi” Popkin ’79, a longtime leader in human rights movements in the United States and Central America, were held May 22 in Bethesda, Md. Popkin, who died May 18 at the age of 54, was the executive director of the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that promotes reform in national justice systems throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Popkin’s dedication to human rights included her service during El Salvador’s national crisis as deputy director of the Human Rights Institute of the University of Central America in San Salvador from 1985 to 1992. She became a consultant to the United Nations and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and was a program director at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights from 1995 to 1999. She is the author of Peace Without Justice: Obstacles to Building the Rule of Law in El Salvador.