“Award/Recognition” Class Notes
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.
Adam Olenn (Col ’95 CM)
Adam Olenn’s (Col ’95 L/M) screenplay Blood and Plunder won first prize in the ‘Spotlight on New England’ category of the 2018 Rhode Island International Film Festival’s screenplay competition. Blood and Plunder is the true story of John and Moses Brown, two brothers who birthed our nation, and their rift that still divides us. More information can be found here.
Steve Klepper (Grad ’98, Law ’01)
Steven M. Klepper (Grad ’98, Law ’01), an appellate lawyer at the Baltimore law firm Kramon and Graham, has been awarded the 2018 Tip the Scales of Justice Award by the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Advocacy Project, a nonprofit dedicated to providing justice to victims of domestic abuse. Klepper was selected for the award for his exceptional pro bono appellate advocacy on behalf of survivors of domestic violence in two cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
Kathleen Edmunds (Col ’84, Med ’88 CM)
Kathleen O’Connor Edmunds (Col ’84, Med ’88 L/M) was awarded a U.S. patent for her Tampon Assembly, which is trademarked The Menstrual Shield.
Ashleigh DeFries Gallagher (Col ’07)
Ashleigh DeFries Gallagher (Col ’07) was awarded the Maryland Daily Record VIP Award, naming her one of Maryland’s “Very Important Professionals Under 40.” Gallagher works as legislative director for state Sen. Bill Ferguson, and as a dispenser of health tips and environmental friendly advice on the online platform she founded in 2017, “Healthy Living with Ash.” She is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
John Via (Engr ’84 CM)
John W. Via III (Engr ’84 L/M) was named to the Alumni Circle of Distinction of Drexel University’s College of Engineering. The award recognizes distinguished alumni for their contributions to the field of engineering and support for the college and university. Via also serves as a Trustee for the UVA’s School of Engineering.
Robert Perrow (Com ’70 CM), Howard Gordon (Col ’69, Law ’72 CM), Charles James (Col ’96 CM), Farhad Aghdami (Col ’89), W. F. Drewry Gallalee (Col ’77)
The following attorneys, all of whom practice with Williams Mullen, were named “Lawyers of the Year” in the 2019 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© in their respective fields: Charles E. “Chuck” James Jr. (Col ’96 L/M), criminal defense; Farhad Aghdami (Col ’89), trusts and estates; Robert D. “Bob” Perrow (Com ’70 L/M), financial services regulation; W.F. Drewry “Drew” Gallalee (Col ’77), product liability litigation (defense); and Howard E. Gordon (Col ’69, Law ’72 L/M), real estate.
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