Hugh Hallman began his legal career practicing in the fields of domestic and international finance and taxation, intellectual property and anti-trust. He served two consecutive terms as mayor of Tempe, Arizona from 2004 to 2012 and was instrumental in helping to save the former adobe home of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2011, he received the Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Civic Service.

Hallman is a visiting professor and founder of the Kazakh-American Free University (KAFU) in Kazakhstan which serves thousands of students in the fields of business, law, and education. Hallman graduated with a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics and Political Science from Claremont Men’s College in California. He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, graduating with Honors and Order of the Coif.