Annual Awards
The University of Connecticut Law School Alumni Association presented its 2021 awards during a virtual annual meeting on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. The awards recognize service to the law school, the legal profession and the community.
Watch the 2021 Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony
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.

Constance 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.
LSAA Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner 2021 Sponsors
$1000 Sponsors

Locke Lord LLP, Hartford

Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP
$500 Sponsors
Tiana Gianopulos '94
$250 Sponsors
Michael Bellafiore '97
Professor & Dean Emeritus Timothy Fisher
Guy Evans
Past Awardees
Distinguished Graduate Award Winners
2020 Curtis Tearte ’78
2019 Henry S. Cohn ’70
2018 Anne C. Dranginis ’72
2017 Cheryl A. Chase ’78
2016 Kathleen A. Murphy ’87
2015 Andrew J. McDonald ’91
2014 James T. Shearin ’86
2013 Michael L. Aresco ’76
2012 Evan D. Flaschen ’82
2011 James K. Robertson, Jr. ’74
2010 James Sicilian ’81
2009 Christine S. Vertefeuille ’75
2008 Kevin J. O’Connor ’92
2007 Christopher F. Droney ’79
2006 Hope C. Seeley ’89
2005 Alphonso E. Tindall, Jr. ’81
2004 John H. Durham ’75
2003 Thomas J. Groark, Jr. ’65
2002 Dona D. Young ’80
2001 William H. Trachsel ’71
2000 Joette Katz ’77
1999 Daniel F. Flynn ’62
1998 Rosemary E. Giuliano ’78
1997 Richard N. Palmer ’77
1996 Randall Pinkston ’80
1995 Members of the Judiciary
1994 Thomas D. Ritter ’77
1993 Hubert J. Santos ’69
1992 Robert R. Googins ’61
1991 Thomas H. Dooley ’64
1990 Francisco L. Borges ’78
1989 John F. Droney ’73
1988 Dale P. Faulkner ’63
1987 Richard D. Tulisano ’69
1986 James J. Kennelly ’59
1985 Hugh F. Keefe ’67
1984 William R. Davis ’55
1982 James F. English, Jr. ’56
1981 Lewis B. Rome ’57
1980 Robert N. Giaimo ’44
1979 Joseph W. Bogdanski ’40
1978 T. Emmet Clarie ’38
1977 Carmine R. Lavieri ’48
1976 Anthony V. DeMayo ’51
1975 Carl W. Nielsen ’52
1974 Alva P. Loiselle ’43
1973 Louis Shapiro ’32
1972 Douglass B. Wright ’37
1971 Thomas J. Meskill ’56
Distinguished Service Award Winners
2020 Timothy Fisher
2019 Ingrid Moll ’99
2018 Jon Bauer
2017 Steven M. Greenspan ’85
2016 Lewis S. Kurlantzick
2015 Martha Stone
2014 Barbara J. Collins ’78
2013 Willajeanne F. McLean
2012 Jeremy Paul
2011 Alexandra Davis DiPentima ’79
2010 William R. Breetz
2009 Laurie S. Werling
2009 Alan E. Green ’74
2008 Rafael A. Santiago ’83
2007 Kurt A. Strasser
2006 Nell Jessup Newton
2005 Alfred V. Covello ’60
2004 James D. Bartolini ’75
2003 Donna F. Martinez ’78
2002 Barbara B. Kennelly
2001 Dr. Henry C. Lee
2000 Hugh C. Macgill
1999 John C. Brittain
1998 Robert J. Callahan
1997 David W. Collins ’58
1994 Robert C. Zampano
1993 Ellen Ash Peters
1992 Cornelius J. Scanlon
1991 Peter A. Lane ’67
1990 George Schatzki
1989 Ethel S. Sorokin ’53
1988 Thomas C. McKone ’49
1987 Howard R. Sacks
1986 Phillip I. Blumberg
1975 George F. Sherwood ’66
1974 Aaron Nassau
Public Service Award Winners
2020 Michelle Duprey ’93
2019 Charles Luckey ’85
2018 Perry Zinn-Rowthorn ’97
2017 Eric D. Coleman ’77
2016 Linda J. Kelly ’76
2015 Susan B. Handy ’80
2014 Harry D. Weller ’79
2013 John A. Danaher, III ’80
2012 Pedro E. Segarra ’85
2009 Nora R. Dannehy
2007 Michael R. Sheldon
2006 Joan Glazer Margolis ’78
1990 Thomas P. Smith ’72
1989 Robert I. Berdon ’57
1988 Eunice S. Groark ’65
1987 Anne M. Hamilton ’73 & Rosalind S. Katz ’78
1975 William D. Graham ’49
1974 Robert C. Leuba ’60
Medal of Excellence Award Winners
2019 Karen DeMeola ’96
2015 Robert M. Langer ’73
2012 The Honorable Ellen Ash Peters
2010 Anthony V. DeMayo ’51
2008 William F. Gallagher ’63
2004 Ralph Gregory Elliot
1990 William B. Rush ’59
1989 Wesley W. Horton ’70
1988 William S. Zeman ’41
1987 Robert W. Fiondella ’68
1975 William R. Davis ’55
1974 George F. Muir ’39
Graduates of the Last Decade Impact Award
2020: Dan Brody ’15, Aigné Goldsby ’16, Lisa Marie Rivas ’11
2019: Alfredo Fernández ’12, Ellen Messali ’10, Erick Russell ’12
2018: Donald J. Bell ’13, Walter Menjivar ’12, Meredith O’Keefe ’08, Matthew Ritter ’07
Lifetime Achievement Award
2016 Julia Brezina Dunlop