NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University Law School has honored seven of its graduates by inducting them into the school’s Hall of Fame.
Tulane honored the inductees at a ceremony attended by alumni and friends. The school’s 2016 honorees were Martin L.C. Feldman, Robert Force, Margot Lampe Mazeau, Dermot S. McGlinchey, Sylvia Roberts, Luther J. Strange III and A.N. Yiannopoulos. Roberts and McGlinchey were inducted posthumously.
“We created the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame in 2013 in an effort to celebrate the immensely talented people associated with Tulane Law throughout its long history," David D. Meyer, dean and Mitchell Franklin professor of Law at Tulane University Law School, told the Louisiana Record. “Individual alumni and faculty are selected for induction in recognition of their exceptional accomplishments, leadership and contributions to the community and profession, as well as their enduring ties to Tulane Law School and our students. Of course, since we created the Hall of Fame in Tulane’s 166th year, we have a lot of catching up to do in recognizing the diverse talents of our alumni and faculty.”
According to Tulane, each inductee to the Hall of Fame represented a distinctive element of the school’s history and tradition. Each honoree is selected by the school’s alumni committee and in consultation with the dean. Sections are made based on each graduates’ professional achievement and dedication to Tulane’s mission and students of the Law School.
“The alumni and faculty inducted into the Hall of Fame represent a broad range of achievement and leadership – leading jurists, civil rights pioneers, renowned scholars, lions of the practicing bar,” said Meyer. “What unites them is a common bond of extraordinary talent and achievement and an enduring commitment to Tulane and to the common good.”
The Hall of Fame awards were created in 2012 through an endowment gift by Lake Charles attorney Mike Veron and his wife Melinda and are celebrated at a luncheon at the school.
“The annual luncheons when we formally induct the new members of the Hall of Fame generate a lot of pride in all of our alumni and faculty in the incredible talent and achievement of the folks connected with Tulane Law School,” said Meyer. “It’s been gratifying to hear how much it means to the individual honorees as well. These are all people who have collected a great many honors in their lives. But the honorees commonly describe it as one of the most personally significant they have ever received.”
Feldman is a federal judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, where he was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan. Force has been a professor at Tulane Law School since 1969. Lampe Mazeau graduated first in her class at Tulane and was assistant general counsel in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Strange was recently elected to his second term as Alabama’s chief law enforcement officer. Yiannopoulos has been recognized internationally as scholar of civil law, comparative law and maritime law.
Honorees named posthumous include McGlinchey, who co-found the McGlinchey Stafford firm, and Roberts, an attorney that advocated for women’s rights.