Alumni Award Descriptions & Past Recipients

This award is given annually by the Law Alumni Association to an alumnus/a or faculty member for distinguished service to the legal profession and for loyalty and service to the School of Law. Award winners have demonstrated privately and professionally the quality of character, intellect and social or professional responsibility that the School of Law nurtures.

Pervious recipients

The Law Alumni Association established this award in 2004 to recognize an alumnus/a who has distinguished him/herself by outstanding service on the bench. Many of Loyola's graduates have contributed to the promotion of justice in our society by serving with distinction on federal and state courts. This bi-annual award recognizes the contributions of one of those jurists.

Previous Recipients:

• 2004: The Honorable Frank J. McGarr (1950)
• 2005: The Honorable William T. Hart (1951)
• 2006: Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas (1981)
• 2007: The Honorable Gino L. DiVito (1963)
• 2008: The Honorable David H. Coar (1969)
• 2009: The Honorable Carol A. Doyle (1982)
• 2010: The Honorable J. Phil Gilbert (1974)
• 2011: No Award Given
• 2012: No Award Given
• 2013: No Award Given
• 2014: No Award Given
• 2015: The Honorable Virginia M. Kendall (1992)
• 2016: The Honorable Jean Prendergast Rooney (BA '93, JD '94, presented posthumously)
• 2017: No Award Given
• 2018: ​The Honorable Sara L. Ellis (1994)
• 2020: The Honorable Lisette L. Shirdan-Harris (1990)

Francis J. Rooney joined the law faculty and Loyola University Chicago when the School of Law was established in 1908. He taught at the School of Law for more than 40 years, and remained at Loyola through World War II as assistant dean and as law librarian to keep the school operating. Rooney assumed responsibility for a large portion of the classroom teaching for the few student who remained following the halt of admission after Pearl Harbor. He worked diligently to ease the struggle of students who were without a law library by assuming the role of law librarian until 1955 when he returned to the classroom to continue serving Loyola’s students in their pursuit of a legal education.

This award was originated in 1970 and is given annually by the School of Law in recognition of continuous and outstanding loyalty and dedicated service to the School of Law.

Previous Recipients:

This award was established in 1985 by the Law Alumni Association to honor alumni who have been in practice for 15 years or less and who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to the profession and to the School of Law.

Previous Recipients:

This award was established in 2013 to recognize an alumnus/a who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to public service and social justice in his/her career and is given bi-annually.

Previous Recipients
2013: Mara S. Georges (1988)
2014: Richard Cozzola (BA ’74, JD ’80)
2015: No Award Given
2016: Kathleen Lyons (1994)
2017: Margaret C. Benson (1979)
2018: No Award Given
2019: Leah Duckett Gray (JD 1999) *presented posthumously 
2021: Chlece Walker-Neal-Murray (MSW ’13, JD ’13, MS ’18)

Since 2002, the King Lecture is also the setting for the awarding of the Norman C. Amaker Award of Excellence. The award is named after the late Professor Norman C. Amaker who taught at Loyola until his death in 2000. The award is presented to an individual who has achieved the ideals and the model established by Professor Amaker.

Previous recipients:
2002     Professor Neil G. Williams
2003     Donald L. Hollowell ('51)
2004     Professor Michael J. Howlett, Jr.
2005     State Senator Donne E. Trotter
2006     Azim Ramelize ('90)
2007     Professor Ruqaijah Yearby
2008     Dean Emerita Nina S. Appel
2009     Aisha T. Cornelius Edwards ('05)
2010     Mary J. Bird ('87)
2011     James D. Montgomery, Sr.
2012     Kendall Hill
2013     Nathaniel R. Howse ('76)
2014     Dennericka Brooks ('07)

Since 1993, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) at Loyola has presented the Donald L. Hollowell Distinguished Service Award to an African-American alumnus/a of Loyola. The award is named after Donald L. Hollowell, a 1951 alumnus of Loyola, who was one of the leading lawyers of the Civil Rights Movement. Mr. Hollowell passed away at the end of 2004. To learn more about Mr. Hollowell's remarkable career, please click here.

Past recipients:
1992-93     Honorable David H. Coar ('69)
1993-94     Honorable Mark E. Jones ('50)
1994-95     Stephen H. Pugh ('73)
1995-96     Paul H. Thornton ('69)
1996-97     Djuana M. O'Connor Oshin ('91)
1997-98     Fletcher N. Smith III ('94)
2001-02     Robin N. Black ('96)
2002-03     Edward G. Lance ('99)
2003-04     Christopher A. Weinum ('00)
2006-07     Vickie Pasley ('85)
2007-08     William A. Lowry ('87)
2008-09     Shawn Mercer-Dixon
2009-10     Josie M. Gough ('84)
2010-11      Greta G. Weathersby ('87)
2011-12      Willie J. Miller, Jr. ('79)
2012-13     Leslie Hairston (JD ’89)
2013-14     Gerald Peterson ('77)

In 2004 the Webster Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta at Loyola established the annual Mary Ann G. McMorrow Alumni Achievement Award, to recognize Loyola alumni/ae who have demonstrated excellence in the practice of law and a commitment to the legal field. The initial recipient of the award was Justice McMorrow, a distinguished alumna of Loyola and the first woman to serve as the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.

To learn more about Loyola's Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, click here.