2021 Award Winners
Distinguished Graduate Award: Michael J. Callahan JD ’95
Mike Callahan is the executive director of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance and professor of the practice of law at Stanford Law School. Before entering academia, he was senior vice president and general counsel at LinkedIn, where he had global responsibility for legal, regulatory and public policy matters, including corporate governance. Before that, Callahan was executive vice president and chief legal officer at Ten-X and executive vice president and general counsel at Yahoo! Inc.
Judge Robert W. Clark was sworn into office as a judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court in March 2021. He previously served as a Superior Court judge in the Bridgeport GA and juvenile court and as general counsel to Gov. Ned Lamont from 2019 to 2021. He previously worked for 14 years in the Connecticut Attorney General's Office, first as an assistant attorney general in the Special Litigation Department and later as special counsel to Attorney General George Jepsen. He previously worked for the law firms of Day, Berry & Howard LLP, now Day Pitney, and Kramer Levin.
Distinguished Service Award: Dr. Constance Belton Green JD ’72Constance Belton Green was the first Black woman to graduate from the UConn School of Law. Green also holds an education doctorate from Teachers College Columbia University. She began her legal career as a staff attorney at the New Haven Legal Assistance Program and at Greater Hartford Legal Aid. She served as an education consultant at the Connecticut Department of Education and as Chief Diversity Officer at Eastern Connecticut State University. Green is the author of "The Trailblazing Bessye Bennett" and "Still We Rise: African Americans at the University of Connecticut School of Law." Green, a diversity consultant, serves as a co-chair of the Diversity Equity and Belonging Committee at UConn Law. The Constance Belton Green Diversity Fund, established in 2020 by Dean Eboni S. Nelson, supports diversity and social justice initiatives at the law school.
2021 Graduates of the Last Decade Impact Award
Alexandra J. Cavaliere JD ’16
Alexandra Cavaliere is an associate at Locke Lord LLP, where she focuses her practice on general corporate, regulatory and transactional insurance matters. She began her legal career as an associate in the Boston office of Proskauer Rose LLP. After a long journey beginning in July of 2019, she was officially diagnosed with ALS (or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) in the summer of 2020. While she is still working, she is transitioning her focus to advocating for ALS patients’ access to funding and treatments full-time.
Franklin E. Perry JD ’13
Franklin Perry II works for the Connecticut General Assembly as the chief of staff for the Connecticut House Democrats. He previously worked as an attorney at Brown Rudnick LLP in the Government Affairs and Real Estate practice groups. During his time at UConn School of Law, Franklin served as the Student Bar Association president. He currently serves as a board member on the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and the Connecticut Bar Foundation.
Bianca Scherr JD ’16
Bianca Slota Scherr is a former prosecutor, journalist, and PR specialist. From 2005-2010, Bianca was a news reporter and anchor for television stations in Anchorage, Alaska and Burlington, Vermont. She subsequently served as press secretary to Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont and as a social media and digital communications specialist at the UConn School of Law. After graduating, cum laude, Scherr joined the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as an assistant district attorney. She spent nearly five years prosecuting misdemeanors and felonies, including sex crimes and human trafficking cases, before leaving the office to be a full-time parent.
DeVaughn L. Ward JD ’11
DeVaughn L. Ward is senior legislative counsel at the Marijuana Policy Project and has worked in several states on marijuana legalization. He previously spent nearly a decade gaining experience in law and public policy by serving in legislative roles in the Connecticut State Senate, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the City of Hartford. In addition to his role at the Marijuana Policy Project, he manages a boutique civil rights practice in Hartford and has worked on behalf of Connecticut inmates in their battle to receive adequate medical care.
