2025 Awardee
Matthew Ritter '07 is a partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP and chairs the firm’s Public Finance Practice Group, where he focuses on public finance, municipal law, and election law. In addition to his legal career, Matt, a lifelong Hartford resident, is Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. He is Connecticut’s 105th Speaker of the House since the state constitution of 1818.
Matt was first elected to the Connecticut General Assembly in 2010 and represents the 1st Assembly District in Hartford. He has served as Speaker since 2021. He earned his undergraduate degree in Government from Colby College and graduated with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2007.
2025 Awardee
Natalie Braswell '07 (CLAS '00, MPA '02) has dedicated her career to public service in Connecticut, combining her legal expertise with a passion for strengthening state government and serving her community.
Attorney Braswell is a proud triple Husky having graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BA in Political Science, a master’s in public administration, and a Juris Doctorate. She has since gone to serve in leadership roles across state government. She was named interim chancellor of the CSCU system in May of 2026.
2025 Awardee
Anne Dailey is Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Intellectual Life at the Law School and the Ellen Ash Peters Professor of Law. Last year, she received the UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Award, the University's highest honor for a faculty member. She earned her BA from Yale University and her JD from Harvard Law School, where she served as an articles editor of the Harvard Law Review.
She joined the UConn faculty in 1990, where she has taught Family Law, Constitutional Law, Federal Courts, and classes on psychology and law, and children and law. She has served in a variety of administrative roles at the Law School, including Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Faculty. Dailey’s scholarship is widely cited and influential.
2025 Awardees
Rosendo Garza '15 is a Senior Associate at Day Pitney LLP, where he handles energy matters, including regulatory, compliance, and transactional issues. He represents clients in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Department of Energy, and federal courts. Rosendo is also a member of the team of lawyers serving as general counsel to the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), a regional utility consortium engaged in the wholesale markets for electrical power. In this role, he represents NEPOOL before the FERC and regularly provides counsel on the design and operation of the region’s wholesale electric markets.
Trevor J. Larrubia '19 is an attorney at The Pickel Law Firm in Stamford, Connecticut, where he represents individuals in medical malpractice and personal injury matters. His practice focuses on helping clients recover after serious injuries and secure accountability through litigation. He joined Pickel in 2025 after practicing complex commercial litigation at an Am Law 200 firm in Connecticut and New York. Previously, Trevor clerked on the Connecticut Appellate Court (Hon. Lubbie Harper Jr., Hon. Stuart D. Bear, and Hon. Thomas A. Bishop).
Dinora Lopez '17 is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Liberty Bank, based in Middletown, Connecticut. In her role at Liberty Bank, she leads the Office of General Counsel and supports all the bank’s business lines. Dinora is very active in community affairs and is a leader on many boards and organizations. She is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association, the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network (CREW) Connecticut Chapter, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Capital Community College Foundation, and a member of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company (CATIC), among many other organizations.
