“Award/Recognition” Class Notes
Elizabeth Larus (Grad ’89)
Elizabeth Freund Larus (Grad ’89, ’94) was awarded the 2019 Waple Professional Achievement Award at the University of Mary Washington, where she is a professor of political science and international affairs. A specialist in the government and politics of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Larus was awarded a Taiwan Fellowship in 2015 to research security issues in the Asia-Pacific.
Linsey Davis (Col ’99)
Linsey Davis (Col ’99), with Joseph Bottum and illustrator Lucy Fleming, will receive a Christopher Award for their book, The World is Awake: A Celebration of Everyday Blessings. The book is a lyrical, rhyming story for young children intended to make them feel safe and joyful.
Sarah Harris Wallman (Col ’00 CM)
Sarah Harris Wallman (Col ’00 L/M) was awarded the Juniper Prize for Short Fiction by UMass Press. Her collection “Senseless Women|” will debut in Spring 2020.
Adam Shartzer (Engr ’03 CM)
Adam Shartzer (Engr ’03 L/M), a principal at Fish & Richardson, was named a 2019 “Client Service All-Star” in BTI Consulting Group’s survey of general counsel from the world’s largest corporations. The All-Star list highlights lawyers who “deliver incomparable levels of client service excellence” and “demonstrate an unrelenting pursuit to find what best fulfills clients’ needs.” Shartzer focuses his practice on high-stakes patent litigation in district courts, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and at the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Carl Dowdey III (Col ’95)
Carl K. “Trey” Dowdey III (Col ’95), an attorney with Swift, Currie, McGhee & Hiers, was selected to take over command of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 10th Legal Operations Detachment, which falls under the U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command out of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Dowdey’s appointment will take effect on June 22, 2019, and will make him one of just 23 Legal Operations Detachment commanders nationwide. In addition to this announcement, Dowdey will also be promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Mike Lynn (Col ’72 CM)
Mike Lynn (Col ’72 L/M) of the law firm Lynn Pinker Cox and Hurst has been recognized as a distinguished alumni of SMU Dedman School of Law in private practice for 2019. He has also been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” from 2015-2018 by Benchmark Litigation. Mr. Lynn has been named one of the “Top 500 Lawyers in the US” by Lawdragon in 2015 and is consistently ranked in Chambers and Partners as a Band One commercial trial lawyer.
Mr. Lynn obtained a $146 million jury verdict for Mesa Petroleum (an entity controlled by T. Boone Pickens), making it the third consecutive year the firm has obtained one of the largest jury verdicts in the United States. In 2014, Mr. Lynn lead a team that recovered a jury verdict of over $935 million.
Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst was named a Top 10 Litigation Boutique in the nation by Benchmark Litigation for two years and to the 2019 Best Law Firms list by Best Lawyers. The firm is also one of five litigation firms in Texas ranked Band One by Chambers and Partners. Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst continues to be recognized by leading publications as one of the top litigation firms nationwide.
Benade Leonard (Col ’66 CM)
Leonard Benade (Col ’66 L/M) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for his professional achievements in biomedicine and law.
Eric Parker (Engr ’96 CM)
Eric Parker (Engr ’96 L/M) has been named to the Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors for 2019. Eric and his wife, Kristina Gregorio Parker (Col ’96 L/M), live in Charlottesville with their two children, Amber, 15, and Justin, 13.
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux (Grad ’89)
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux (Grad ’89) was elected to the board of directors of the American Translators Association for a three-year term, beginning October 2018. The ATA is the nation’s largest professional organization for translators and interpreters. Founded in 1959, the organization has over 10,000 members in more than 100 countries. Lindemuth Bodeux, who lives in Lafayette, Colorado, is a certified French into English translator with more than 20 years of experience.
Laura Heim (Arch ’81 CM)
Laura Heim (Arch ’81 L/M) was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in June 2018 in recognition of her significant contributions to the field. She founded her firm, Laura Heim Architect, in 2006 and has worked on more than 30 projects in the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District, a 1920’s planned community, establishing and advancing preservation standards while inserting contemporary programs and design into the modest brick homes. Her firm is located in Sunnyside, Queens.
Steve Hayes (Col ’70 CM)
Steve Hayes (Col ’70) was elected as chairman of the board of trustees of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York. Prior to his election, Hayes had served on the board of trustees for 15 years. He is an entertainment lawyer in New York City, counting Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen among his clients.
Henry Ware (Col ’77 CM)
Henry N. “Harry” Ware Jr. (Col ’77 L/M) has been appointed to the board of directors of the Virginia Law Foundation, an organization that, through philanthropy, promotes the rule of law, access to justice and law-related education. He will serve as the foundation’s continuing legal education committee chair.
Gregory Lawler (Col ’76 CM)
Greg Lawler (Col ’76 L/M) was awarded the 2019 Wolf Prize in mathematics from the Wolf Foundation.
Deborah Blevins (Law ’83)
Deborah Blevins (Law ’83) was appointed to the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in 2018. Prior to joining the Commission, Blevins was a partner at Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland & Hutton in Pulaski, Virginia. Blevins is the managing deputy commissioner of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Department and was hired by the Commission in 2004.
Jamie Dreher (Col ’96)
Jamie Dreher (Col ’96), a lawyer with Downey Brand, was recognized at the Sacramento chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s Ninth Annual Night to Honor Service for his pro bono contributions.
Rebecca Sinclair (Col ’91)
Rebecca Ogur Sinclair (Col ’91) received the Medical Society of Virginia’s Salute to Service Award for Outstanding Service with the Uninsured & Underserved in 2018. Read more about it here. She also received the Virginia Health Care Foundation’s Unsung Hero Award-Physician in 2006 and the United Way of the National Capital Area’s Humanitarian Award in 2005.
Lazetta Braxton (Com ’95)
Lazetta Rainey-Braxton (Com ’95 L/M) received the See It, Be It Role Model Award, one of several Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards given by InvestmentNews. She also received the Heart of Financial Planning Award from the Financial Planning Association in Nov. 2018. Braxton owns Financial Fountains, and her financial advice has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, the New York Times and other media outlets.
Irving Brand (Law ’67 CM)
Irv Brand (Law ’67 L/M) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who for excelling professionally for 20 years or more.
Timothy Grendell (Law ’83)
Timothy J. Grendell (Law ’83) was sworn in as a new member of the National College of Probate Judges Executive Committee. Grendell is one of only ten probate judges from across the country who currently serve on the executive committee and is the first combined probate/juvenile court judge to be elected for the position.
Jesse Placher (Col ’04 CM)
Jesse A. Placher (Col ’04 L/M) was honored with the Jury Verdict Reporter’s 2018 Trial Lawyer Excellence Award. Placher, an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson who practices in the firm’s Peoria, Illinois, office, focuses on the defense of medical malpractice claims. Honorees are selected following the review of hundreds of notable Illinois jury defense verdicts; Placher was recognized for obtaining a defense jury verdict in a case in which the plaintiff was seeking $3.5 million in damages.
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