"I was the first person in my family to go to college so I made up for it by getting a lot of degrees,” Dr. Sara L. Terheggen, BS ’99 explains. After her graduation from the University of Oregon with a degree in psychology, she went on to pursue a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. But that wasn’t enough either. She decided to pursue law and was awarded a JD, her final degree—at least to date—from the University of California, Berkeley.
Today, Dr. Terheggen works as a corporate attorney in Silicon Valley where she represents clients in a broad range of corporate transactions, including initial public offerings and acquisition finance; and advises companies and boards on corporate governance matters. Her practice also includes advising sponsors in private fund formation and institutional investors seeking to invest in such funds.
"It is rewarding to work with top clients on high profile matters that impact and shape the economy,” she says. “In building my practice, I had the desire to be adaptable in an ever-changing market and my unique practice combination is ideal for a high growth area like Silicon Valley.
Indeed, Dr. Terheggen has consulted on transactions with an aggregate value in excess of a staggering $90 billion.
"My belief is that we just don’t have enough women in senior leadership positions, across industries,” she explains. “For me it’s about being a part of the solution to champion women’s promotion and advancement.” She is not only championing this cause in the law but in many fields, including her over 10 years of experience focused on increasing diversity in STEM. Dr. Terheggen also serves as an elected California delegate for the Vision 2020 Project. In this role, she developed a Think Tank series, sponsored by Stanford Women on Boards and Stanford Rock Center. Each Think Tank draws between 70-100 participants from many different industries. Separately, she organized a series of Leverage Dinners with the object of connecting senior-level women from different backgrounds and industries with the purpose of generating business opportunities.
Dr. Terheggen has been recognized for her professional and civic excellence on numerous occasions, including in the last year alone, as a “Woman Leader in Tech Law” by The Recorder, a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, and as one of the region’s “40 under 40” top business leaders by The Silicon Valley Business Journal. Dr. Terheggen has also been invited to the White House on two occasions, to participate in forums on women in finance and a Business Council leadership discussion.
Dr. Terheggen also sits on several boards and does philanthropic work organizing golf tournaments to raise money for organizations, such as the American Cancer Society, Lopez Foundation, and Melanoma Research Foundation. Most recently, she was the Founding Tournament Director and Honorary Committee Member for the Golf Classic benefiting the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.