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Akron Law honors alumni award recipients during virtual event
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: July 9, 2021
The University of Akron School of Law paid tribute to more than a dozen outstanding alumni award and other accolade recipients recently during the 2021 Akron Law Alumni Association awards ceremony.
Held virtually on May 14, the event was not only unique in format, it also included winners from 2020 and 2019 since last year’s in-person event had to be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These awards help emphasize the important contributions our alumni make to their communities and to the legal profession,” said Akron Law Dean Christopher J. (C.J.) Peters. “That meshes with Akron Law’s mission of promoting justice and the rule of law and enhancing access to justice.”
Five Akron Law Outstanding Alumni award recipients were honored for their efforts, including 2020 awardees retired Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Spicer and Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Taryn Heath and 2019 recipients Joseph Emanuel, senior vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer for Prudential Financial Inc.; Mark Inzetta, chief legal officer and secretary of Sbarro Holdings Inc. and William Pepple, who has represented local school boards in Ohio for more than 38 years.
“While we always seek to select a diverse group of people from different practice backgrounds for our Outstanding Alumni Awards, this year we had an even wider assortment of candidates than usual,” said Peters. “We honored alumni who have worked as corporate general counsel, managed corporate compliance, represented local school districts and served as judges.
“The physical awards were sent out prior to the virtual ceremony, but we felt it was important to hold an event in which everyone was recognized and got to say a few words,” said Peters, who together with Akron Law Alumni Association Immediate Past President J. Alex Quay presided over the event.
“Board members from the Alumni Association solicit nominations from the Akron legal community for review by the association’s nominating committee,” said Quay, a partner at Brouse McDowell, who focuses on litigation and real estate. “We review the nominees, considering factors such as their contributions to the School of Law, service to the greater Akron legal community as well as their personal accomplishments in the legal profession. The committee then selects a list of finalists for acceptance by the alumni board, which finalizes the selections.
“Given that we only choose two or three individuals each year, it’s quite an honor,” said Quay. “It’s an important tradition that provides the alumni association with an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of truly outstanding individuals who have made, and continue to make, a difference in our legal community.”
“The awards also help to further strengthen the ongoing relationship between the law school and our alumni,” said Peters. “We have more than 8,300 alumni, who’ve graduated over our 100-year history and many of them are still actively involved in the law school in various ways. Some have served or are serving on our advisory boards, while others are now adjunct professors. Their continued participation is why we honor them each year.”
In addition to the alumni awards, Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Joy Malek Oldfield and Roetzel & Andress shareholder Karen Adinolfi were honored as John R. Quine awardees for the years 2020 and 2019 respectively.
The accolade is presented annually to an adjunct law professor who has most successfully combined a practical approach to teaching law with a scholarly approach to the private practice of law.
During the ceremony, a number of student leaders received recognition, including Student Bar Association presidents Lauren Zidones (2020-2021) and John Moenk (2019-2020), Akron Law Review Editors-in-Chief Sarah Sears (2020-2021) and Michael Grund (2019-2020) and Akron Law Alumni Board of Directors student directors Doson Nguyen (2020-2021) and Monica Andress (2019-2021).
A portion of the ceremony was also set aside to acknowledge faculty who received publication awards. The recipients were Professor Richard Bales (Thomas G. Byers Memorial Book Award - 2019), Professor Tracy Thomas (Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award Faculty Scholarly Publication – 2020 and the Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award Faculty Practical Publication - 2019), Professor Camilla Hrdy (Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award Faculty Scholarly Publication - 2019) and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Legal Writing Charles Oldfield (Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award Alumni Scholarly Publication - 2020).
“Our annual awards event is special because, in addition to recognizing our outstanding alumni, we also have the opportunity to honor our student leaders and our tremendously productive faculty,” Peters said. “It’s a chance for these vital groups of Akron Law stakeholders to come together and celebrate each other’s achievements.”