Rita Rae, Lady Rae
Rita Emilia Anna Rae, Lady Rae, is a Scottish lawyer, judge and a former Senator of the College of Justice.
Career
Rae modelled herself on her grandfather, who was an Italian lawyer who opposed Mussolini and died in 1937.She became a solicitor in 1974, joined the Faculty of Advocates from 1982, and was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1992. From 2003 to 2006 she was a member of the Sentencing Commission for Scotland.
Rae served as a temporary sheriff from 1987 to 1997. She was appointed a sheriff at Glasgow in 1997. She became temporary judge at the Court of Session in 2004. From 2001 to 2007 she was a member of the Parole Board for Scotland.
Rae was appointed as a permanent judge of the Court of Session and a Judge of the Supreme Courts in January 2014. She acted as a Temporary Judge in the Supreme Courts, part time, from 2010 – 2013.
In 2015, Lady Rae presided over the trial of Alexander Pacteau after his guilty plea to the murder of Karen Buckley in Glasgow. She retired in June 2020.
In June 2019 Lady Rae was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Laws from the University of Glasgow
On 21 April 2021, Rae was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow, succeeding Aamer Anwar. On 11 April 2024 she was succeeded by Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah.
In 2022 Rae Became first chair of the new Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Standards agency
18 November 2022 Rae was awarded a Fellowship from New College Lanarkshire for her "Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Public Life"
In Nov 2023 Rae became Chair of the Council of the Scottish Association for the Study of Offending.
Rae was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2026 New Years Honours list for services to for services to the Law, to Charity and to Education in Scotland.