Fordham Law Alumni Awards

Fordham Law presents a range of prestigious awards that recognize leaders in the legal profession. 

  • Fordham Law’s Alumni of Distinction exhibit celebrates graduates of the Law School who have broken barriers in the legal profession, opened doors for underrepresented groups, blazed trails for future generations, and made an indelible mark on our country and around the world.

    Past recipients include Eunice Carter, Franklin H. Williams, Geraldine Ferraro, and Ruth Whitehead Whaley.

  • The Medal of Achievement is presented to an alumnus or alumna of the Law School who has a distinguished career in law or business. The award presentation is the centerpiece of the FLAA Annual Luncheon.

    Honorees
    1952 - Hon. John T. Loughran
    1953 - George H. Coppers
    1954 - Andrew B. Shea
    1955 - Hon. Albert Conway
    1956 - Louis Stein
    1957 - Hon. Thomas J. Brogan
    1958 - Hon. Vincent L. Leibell
    1959 - Edward B. Schulkind
    1960 - Hon. Adrian P. Burke
    1961 - Henry M. Hogan
    1962 - Hon. William C. Hecht, Jr.
    1963 - Hon. Sylvester J. Ryan
    1964 - Henry Mannix
    1965 - Hon. James B.M. McNally
    1966 - Hon. Malcolm Wilson
    1967 - Hon. Joseph W. McGovern
    1968 - George A. Brooks
    1969 - Hon. John N. Mitchell
    1970 - Hon. Irving R. Kaufman
    1971 - Hon. William H. Mulligan
    1972 - Caesar L. Pitassy
    1973 - John B. Henrich
    1974 - Donald M. Dunn
    1975 - Denis McInerney
    1976 - Hon. Louis J. Lefkowitz
    1977 - William R. Meagher
    1978 - Harry J. McCallion
    1979 - Hon. David N. Edelstein
    1980 - John D. Feerick
    1981 - Paul J. Curran
    1982 - Hon. Joseph M. McLaughlin
    1983 - Hon. Lawrence W. Pierce
    1984 - Hon. Irene J. Duffy
    1984 - Hon. Kevin Thomas Duffy
    1985 - Archibald R. Murray
    1986 - John R. Vaughan
    1987 - John D. Calamari
    1988 - Hon. John F. Keenan
    1989 - James F. Gill
    1990 - Hon. John M. Cannella
    1991 - Frances G. Berko
    1992 - Thomas R. Donahue
    1993 - Andrew J. Maloney
    1994 - Patricia M. Hynes
    1995 - Constantine N. Katsoris
    1996 - James E. Tolan
    1997 - Hon. Robert J. Callahan
    1998 - Hon. Loretta A. Preska
    1998 - Thomas J. Kavaler
    1999 - Michael K. Stanton
    1999 - Ernest E. Stempel
    2000 - William F. Harrington
    2001 - William P. Frank
    2002 - Thomas A. Moore and Hon. Jacqueline Silbermann
    2003 - George C. Ross
    2004 - Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr.
    2005 - Hon. Geraldine Ferraro
    2006 - Maureen Scannell Bateman and Hon. Denny Chin
    2007 - Denis F. Cronin and Margaret M. Hill
    2008 - Dennis J. Kenny
    2009 - John R. Costantino
    2010 - Joseph E. Geoghan
    2011 - John H. Wolff
    2012 - Hon. Arthur J. Gonzalez
    2013 - Mark H. Tuohey III
    2014 - James Quinn
    2015 - James S. Brown
    2016 - Hon. Cathy Seibel
    2017 - Mark J. Hyland
    2018 - Bradley J. Butwin
    2019 - Kim Koopersmith
    2020 - Michael K. Stanton, Jr.
    2022 - Joseph M. McShane, S.J.
    2023 - Megan Hogan
    2024 - Eric F. Grossman 

    The Medal of Achievement was not awarded in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • The Rising Star Awards recognize the extraordinary achievements of three distinguished alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years in the areas: Private Practice; In-House and Business; and Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit.

    Honorees

    2012
    Private Practice: Todd G. Cosenza ’98
    In-House and Business: Samrat S. Khichi ’98
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Edward Skyler ’00

    2013
    Private Practice:Daniel F.X. Geoghan ’99
    In-House and Business: Martha A. Heinze ’98
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Sean K. O’Neill ’98

    2014
    Private Practice: Gavin N.L. White ’01
    In-House and Business: Christopher Brennan ’00
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Betsy Tsai ’01

    2015
    Private Practice: Rosevelie Márquez Morales ’02
    In-House and Business: Chieh Huang ’08
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Anamaria Segura ’07

    2016
    Private Practice: Carrie A. Tendler ’05
    In-House and Business: Kristy Rogan Meringolo ‘06
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Daniel Gross ’07

    2017
    Private Practice: Yehudah L. Buschweitz '02
    In-House and Business: Christopher J. Miritello '08
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Marcie Kobak '11

    2018
    Private Practice: Gregory E. Xethalis ’05
    In-House and Business: Gina N. Scianni ‘04
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Aya Fujimura-Fanselow ’04

    2019
    Private Practice: Elisa D'Amico ’06
    In-House and Business: Grissel Seijo ’06
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Alessandra Biaggi ’12

    2020
    Private Practice: Lauren K. Handelsman ’06
    In-House and Business: Lee Jason Goldberg ’08
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Erin Miles Cloud ’11 

    2022
    Private Practice: Kelly E. Herbert ’15
    In-House and Business: Jessica Villanella ’13
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Annie Chen, ’09

    2023
    Private Practice: Michelle Chan '15
    In-House and Business: Stephen Cugliari '19
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Akilah Browne ‘19

    2024
    Private Practice: Khasim Lockhart '18
    In-House and Business: Alexander Zozos '14
    Government, Public Interest, and Nonprofit: Lynda Garcia '12

    The Rising Star was not awarded in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • The Richard J. Bennett Memorial Award recognizes corporate leaders with the highest standards of ethical conduct, moral purpose, and selfless commitment. It is dedicated to the memory of Dick Bennett ’42, who established himself as a nationally recognized corporate leader during his exceptional career at Schering-Plough Corporation, where he served as General Counsel, President, and Chairman. The award is presented during the annual Corporate Counsel Dinner.

    Honorees
    1996 - Eugene F. Murphy ’59
    1997 - Joseph E. Geoghan ’64
    1998 - Mary M. McDonald ’69
    1999 - Dennis J. Kenny ’61
    2000 - John J. Higgins ’58
    2001 - Maureen Bateman ’68
    2002 - Paul Soden ’68
    2003 - John Costantino ’70
    2004 - Michael Saperstein ’65
    2005 - Finbarr O’Neill ’76
    2006 - Mark Walsh ’84
    2007 - T.J. Maloney ’79
    2008 - Paul Tanico ’80
    2009 - Robert A. Ferris ’66
    2010 - James Leitner ’82
    2011 - Don Urgo ’62
    2012 - Eric Grossman ’93
    2013 - Andy Hinton ’89
    2014 - Louise Firestone ’85
    2015 - John K. Mara '79
    2016 - Conrad P. Volstad '82
    2017 - Rich Ross '86
    2018 - Marjorie De La Cruz '98 (event cancelled due to winter storm)

  • The Fordham-Stein Prize is a national prize that recognizes the positive contributions of the legal profession to American society. The Prize honors individuals whose work exemplifies outstanding standards of professional conduct, promotes the advancement of justice, and brings credit to the profession by emphasizing in the public mind the contributions of lawyers to our society and to our democratic system of government. The Prize consists of a stipend and a commemorative sculpture designed by Tiffany & Co. It is presented at the annual Fordham-Stein Prize Dinner.

    Honorees
    1976 - Henry J. Friendly
    1977 - Edward H. Levi
    1978 - Warren E. Burger
    1979 - Wade H. McCree, Jr.
    1980 - Archibald Cox
    1981 - Warren M. Christopher
    1982 - William H. Webster
    1983 - Potter Stewart
    1984 - Edward Weinfeld
    1985 - Edward Bennett Williams
    1986 - Shirley M. Hufstedler
    1987 - Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
    1988 - Robert M. Morgenthau
    1989 - Marian Wright Edelman
    1990 - William Hughes Mulligan
    1991 - William P. Rogers
    1992 - Sandra Day O’Connor
    1993 - Cyrus Vance
    1994 - Milton Pollack
    1995 - Lloyd N. Cutler
    1996 - Gerald Bard Tjoflat
    1997 - Charles Alan Wright
    1998 - George J. Mitchell
    1999 - William H. Rehnquist
    2000 - William T. Coleman, Jr.
    2001 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg
    2002 - Judith S. Kaye
    2003 - John D. Feerick
    2004 - Patricia M. Wald
    2005 - Griffin B. Bell
    2006 - Joseph M. McLaughlin
    2007 - Robert B. Fiske, Jr.
    2008 - Stephen G. Breyer
    2009 - John F. Keenan
    2010 - Theodore B. Olson
    2011 - Kenneth Feinberg
    2013 - Jack B. Weinstein
    2014 - Mary Jo White
    2015 - Eric H. Holder, Jr.
    2016 - Guido Calabresi
    2017 - Anthony M. Kennedy
    2018 - Elena Kagan
    2019 - Barbara D. Underwood
    2021 - Robert A. Katzmann
    2022 - Kenneth C. Frazier
    2023 - Sherrilyn Ifill  

    The Fordham-Stein Prize was not awarded in 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy.
    The Fordham-Stein prize was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • The Fordham Law School Milton Fisher '42 Second Harvest Award honors a graduate who, in a lifetime of extraordinary achievement, has embodied the Law School’s highest ideals of excellence and service. 

    Honorees
    2007 - Ernest E. Stempel ’46
    2008 - Emil “Mike” Dominianni ’57
    2009 - James F. Gill ’56
    2010 - Edward Greason ’58
    2011 - Dennis J. Kenny ’61
    2012 - Eugene Souther ’59
    2013 - Stephen J. Fearon ’63
    2014 - James E. Tolan ’62
    2015 - Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel '63
    2016 - Joseph E. Geoghan '64
    2017 - Hon. John F. Keenan '54
    2018 - Margaret M. “Peggy” Hill ’64
    2020 - E. Carter Corriston, Sr. '60 (posthumously)
    2022 - Paul Soden FCRH ’65 LAW ’68
    2023 - Constantine N. Katsoris GABELLI ’53 LAW ’57
    2024 - James W. Quinn ’71

    The Milton Fisher '42 Second Harvest Award was not awarded in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.