Alumni Awards

Scroll down the page to learn about the following Alumni Awards:

• Harvard Law School Association Award Guidelines
• HLSA Award Recipients
• James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service
• James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service Recipients

SUGGEST A NOMINEE: Send your suggestions to hlsa@law.harvard.edu.

Harvard Law School Association Award Guidelines

Frequency

The HLSA designates up to four Award recipients per year. Awards are presented at an appropriate event in Cambridge or elsewhere, e.g., during the Alumni Spread at Class Day held the day before Commencement, or the HLS Association and Fund Leadership Conference in the fall, or the HLSA Spring Meeting. Awards are not presented in absentia; however, posthumous Awards are considered.

Eligibility

• HLS Alumni
• HLS faculty members
• Friends of HLS

Individuals in HLS administrative positions and incumbent members of the Harvard Corporation or Board of Overseers are not eligible to receive Awards. Generally, individuals who have received an honorary degree from the University are not considered.

Criteria

The HLSA Award is intended to honor service in any one or more of the following categories:

• Sustained or extraordinary service to the legal profession reflecting the qualities of intellect, integrity, leadership and responsibility that HLS fosters.
• Service to society, recognizing a signal contribution to the public welfare that exemplifies the values of HLS.
• Sustained or extraordinary service to HLS

Awards Committee

• The HLSA Awards Committee comprises up to five individuals appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee of the HLSA.

Selection Procedure

• The Awards Committee selects the Award recipients from among the nominations that it receives.
• The selection of Award recipients is subject to the approval of the Executive Committee and the Dean of the Harvard Law School and to such University approvals, if any, as may be necessary.

Send us your suggested nominees: hlsa@law.harvard.edu

 Harvard Law School Association Award Recipients

JOAQUIN G. AVILA J.D. 1973
Presented September 29, 2012; Cambridge, Massachusetts

AHMED ZAKI YAMANI LL.M. 1956
Presented April 8, 2012; Doha, Qatar

DAVID H. SOUTER L.L.B. 1966
Presented October 29, 2011; Cambridge, Massachusetts

STEPHEN G. BREYER L.L.B. 1964
Presented October 29, 2011; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ANTHONY M. KENNEDY L.L.B. 1961
Presented April 9, 2011; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ANNETTE GORDON-REED J.D. 1984
Presented September 17, 2011

BRUCE WASSERSTEIN J.D. 1970
Posthumously recognized April 24, 2010; Cambridge, Massachusetts

FINN M. W. CASPERSEN LL.B. 1966
Presented October 24, 2008; Cambridge, Massachusetts

JANE LAKES HARMAN J.D. 1969
Presented September 21, 2008

ROBERT B. ZOELLICK J.D. 1981
Presented April 4, 2008; Cambridge, Massachusetts

OLARA A. OTUNNU LL.M. 1978
Presented June 15, 2007; Washington, District of Columbia; Speech (pdf)

MICHAEL H. BROWN J.D. 1988
Presented June 7, 2006; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ALAN A.A. KHAZEI J.D. 1987
Presented June 7, 2006; Cambridge; Massachusetts

BARACK H. OBAMA J.D. 1991
Presented September 17, 2005; Cambridge, Massachusetts

DAVID G.T. WILLIAMS 1957-58
Presented June 17, 2004; London, England

DOMENICO DE SOLE LL.M. 1972
Presented June 17, 2004; London, England

NAVANETHEM PILLAY LL.M. 1982, S.J.D. 1988
Presented June 9, 2004; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ROBERT C. CLARK J.D. 1972
Presented June 4, 2003; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ALBERTO R. GONZALES J.D. 1982
Presented June 5, 2002; Cambridge, Massachusetts

JENÖ C.A. STAEHELIN LL.M. 1965
Presented June 26, 2001; Paris, France

JANET RENO LL.B. 1963
Presented June 6, 2001; Cambridge, Massachusetts

KENNETH I. CHENAULT J.D. 1977
Presented September 23, 2000; Cambridge, Massachusetts

CLARK BYSE, Byrne Professor of Administrative Law Emeritus
Presented June 7, 2000; Cambridge, Massachusetts

SAMUEL C. BUTLER LL.B. 1954
Presented June 9, 1999; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ABRAM CHAYES LL.B. 1949
Presented April 24, 1999; Cambridge, Massachusetts

GUSTAVE M. HAUSER J.D. 1953
Presented June 12, 1998; Rome, Italy

RITA E. HAUSER Class of 1958
Presented June 12, 1998; Rome, Italy

ELLIOT L. RICHARDSON LL.B. 1944 ('47)
Presented June 4, 1998; Cambridge, Massachusetts

ARCHIBALD COX LL.B. 1937
Presented June 4, 1997; Cambridge, Massachusetts

JOHN FRANCIS COGAN, JR. J.D. 1952
Presented June 5, 1996; Cambridge, Massachusetts

DEREK BOK J.D. 1954
Presented June 7, 1995; Cambridge, Massachusetts

MARY THERESE WINIFRED ROBINSON LL.M. 1968
Presented May 26, 1995; Dublin, Ireland

ROSWELL BURCHARD PERKINS LL.B. 1949
Presented June 8, 1994; Cambridge, Massachusetts

WILLIAM THADDEUS COLEMAN, JR. J.D. 1943 ('46)
Presented June 9, 1993; Cambridge, Massachusetts

HARRY ANDREW BLACKMUN LL.B. 1932
Presented May 19, 1993; Washington, District of Columbia

ERWIN NATHANIEL GRISWOLD LL.B. 1928, S.J.D. 1929
Presented June 3, 1992; Cambridge, Massachusetts

James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service

The James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service recognizes outstanding service to the Harvard Law School Association and Harvard Law School. The award is named in honor of James Coolidge Carter, an 1853 graduate of the Law School and first president of the Harvard Law School Association (1886–1896).

Mr. Carter was one of the most prominent members of the New York Bar during his day. His keen intellect and congenial demeanor were signature characteristics. He carried himself with quiet dignity in every task he undertook.

He had a passion for good government as evidenced by his tenacity in assisting the fraud prosecutions of the "Tweed Ring." He carried forth that civic zeal by serving on successive commissions, established by Governors Tilden and Hill, which enhanced the administration of municipal government and the judicial system. Many of his ideas on the distinctions between written and unwritten law were later embodied in a series of lectures penned for Harvard Law School at the urging of President Eliot, which were published posthumously.

Mr. Carter took a leading part in establishing the Bar Association of the City of New York and served as its president for five terms. He also served as president of the American Bar Association. He was the founding partner of the law firm of Carter & Ledyard. He was prominently mentioned as a possible Justice of the Supreme Court, and was President Cleveland's first choice for the office of Chief Justice of the United States.

James Coolidge Carter was loyal and true to Harvard Law School. In addition to serving as the first president of the HLSA, his will left a generous gift that established the Carter Professorship of Jurisprudence. In turn, Professor James Bradley Thayer dedicated his treatise on evidence to Mr. Carter. And at Mr Carter's funeral, a delegation that included Professors Langdell, Ames, and Williston paid its final respects to a man who had given much to the Law School.

Send us your suggested nominees: hlsa@law.harvard.edu

James Coolidge Carter Award for Distinguished Service Recipients

DONNA M. CHIOZZI
Director of Alumni Affairs
Presented April 24, 2009, Cambridge, Massachusetts
SCOTT G. NICHOLS
Associate Dean for Development,  Alumni Affairs and Communications 1986–2006
Presented June 7, 2006, Cambridge, Massachusetts