Blythe Burkhardt
Blythe Burkhardt graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in Summer 2007.  In 1997, Blythe received her BA in Anthropology from Iowa State University. After graduation she spent a year in Nigeria as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  (She has returned to Nigeria several times since to conduct research, work on volunteer projects with Winrock International, and visit friends.) In 1998 she came back to the U.S. and settled in Minneapolis, MN, to get her Masters degree at the University of Minnesota in Educational Policy and Administration with an emphasis in Comparative and International Development Education.

In 2000, Blythe took a job as Director of Academic Programs in the University of Iowa International Programs office.  Law school had always been an interest so in the summer of 2004 Blythe began her law school career. Blythe continued to work at International Programs until the summer of 2006 when she left to do an internship at the Office of the General Counsel at the Smithsonian Institution.  Her primary legal interests are non-profit law and intellectual property, especially copyright and trademark.  She is also interested in topic areas such as cultural misappropriation and the protection of indigenous knowledge through intellectual property law. In addition to time spent in Nigeria, her international experiences include visits to Canada, Germany, the UK, and Venezuela.

Blythe is married to Tony Buchanan, a professor of psychology at St. Louis University. They have one son, Jack Henry.  Blythe and her family live in St. Louis, MO 2007 where she will pursue a career with intersections in international trade, intellectual property regimes, and global health.