2025 Grand Honors Recipients Announced
Albany Law School will honor five accomplished alumni at the 2025 Grand Honors Awards on, Friday, November 21, 2025. The ceremony, presented by the National Alumni Association, will celebrate the honorees as well as all alumni who support the law school through mentoring, advising, moot court judging, interviewing, philanthropy, and many other forms of service.
Breakfast and the ceremony will begin promptly at 8:15am.
Register Here
This Year's Honorees:
Trustees Gold Medal
The Honorable Katherine M. Sheehan ’94, Mayor of the City of Albany
Distinguished Alumni Award
James E. Hacker ’84, Managing Partner, Hacker Murphy LLP
Donald D. DeAngelis ’60 Excellence in Alumni Service Award
The Honorable Christina L. Ryba ’01, Administrative Judge, Capital Region’s Third Judicial District
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Gabriella A. Romero ’18, Assemblymember for New York State's 109th Assembly District
Humanitarian Achievement Award
Nic Rangel ’12, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.
About the Honorees:
Trustees Gold Medal
The Honorable Katherine M. Sheehan ’94, Mayor of the City of Albany
The Honorable Katherine M. Sheehan ’94 has served as Albany’s 75th mayor since 2014. She is the first woman to hold this position. Mayor Sheehan has dedicated her administration to unleashing Albany’s full potential, leading with a commitment to community, equity, and opportunity. She is an energetic champion of the renaissance now underway in Albany, and is working to revitalize all of the City’s neighborhoods.
Mayor Sheehan is committed to efficient and responsive government that includes diverse community voices. Since taking office, Mayor Sheehan has initiated major changes, including implementing the largest annual spending decrease in more than 15 years, modernizing City Hall, completing the first successful rezoning of the City in more than half a century, and securing an unprecedented $12.5 million in new municipal aid. Mayor Sheehan also directed Albany to become only the third city in the nation to implement Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), providing police officers with alternatives to incarceration and connecting individuals with necessary resources to reduce recidivism. During her administration, Mayor Sheehan has also launched a new $1 million vacant building rehabilitation program and $1.5 million poverty reduction initiative, enhanced Albany’s parks and award-winning Summer Youth Employment Program, implemented traffic calming initiatives to make Albany’s streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and led the steady transformation of the City’s downtown into a new urban neighborhood.
Mayor Sheehan started her legal career as an attorney in the Albany office of Bond, Schoeneck & King. In 1996, she joined Intermagnetics General Corporation, a leading medical device manufacturer based in Latham. As vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Mayor Sheehan helped grow the company from 500 employees to more than 1,200 and from $90 million to over $300 million in sales. In 2006, she helped negotiate the $1.3 billion acquisition of Intermagnetics by its largest customer, Philips Medical Systems.
Mayor Sheehan is a member of the Albany Law School Board of Trustees. She received the Albany Law Distinguished Alumni in Government Award in 2016 and the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. As a student, Mayor Sheehan was a member of the Albany Law Review. Mayor Sheehan received her undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University.
Distinguished Alumni Award
James E. Hacker ’84, Managing Partner, Hacker Murphy LLP
Jim Hacker is a 1981 graduate of Hamilton College and a 1984 graduate of Albany Law School. He is a member and the former Chair of the Albany Law Board of Trustees and a former member of the Hamilton College Board of Trustees.
Hacker handles complex personal injury, medical malpractice and commercial cases. He has tried over 100 cases to verdict throughout New York and has obtained multiple million-dollar verdicts and settlements.
He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America. The College is comprised of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada and membership is by invitation only. He is also an elected fellow of the International College of Trial Lawyers, whose membership is limited to 500 US trial lawyers and is by invitation only.
He is the Past President of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society for Northeastern New York and the Past President of the New York State Trial Lawyers Academy.
Locally, he is the Past President of the Albany County Bar Association, Past President of the Albany County Bar Foundation and received the President’s Award in 2022. He is also the Past President of the Capital District Trial Lawyers Association which honored him with the Annual “Daniel H. Mahoney” Award in 2016.
Hacker holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer in America” and “Super Lawyer” in both the fields of personal injury and commercial litigation. He has previously been recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” in both categories. He has lectured extensively for the New York State Bar Association, the Albany County Bar Association, New York State Trial Lawyers Academy and the Capital District Trial Lawyers.
He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals and
has been appointed as a United States District Court Mediator.
Donald D. DeAngelis ’60 Excellence in Alumni Service Award
The Honorable Christina L. Ryba ’01, Administrative Judge, Capital Region’s Third Judicial District
The Honorable Christina L. Ryba ’01 was elected in 2015 to serve as a New York State Supreme Court Justice in the Third Judicial District, and in May 2025, she was appointed Administrative Judge of the Third Judicial District. Prior to this, she served as Supervising Judge of the Supreme Court in the Third JD. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, the mission of which is to ensure equal access to justice in New York State.
Prior to beginning her judicial term in 2016, she held various positions in the court system for the Office of Court Administration (OCA) and in the NYS Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department, including Special Projects Counsel to the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Courts Outside New York City and Special Projects Counsel to the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Third Department. Before her work with the judiciary, Judge Ryba was an associate at Nixon Peabody. She also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York Litigation Bureau. Additional public service includes appointments first as General Counsel and then as Deputy Director for the City of Albany Community Development Agency. She began her career in public service with the City of Albany Corporation Counsel’s office.
Judge Ryba is First Vice President of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; member of the New York Women Judges Association; past-president of the Albany County Bar Foundation; past-president of the Albany County Bar Association; member of Judicial Friends Association; member of the American Bar Association; Board Member of Opera Saratoga; Chair of the Judicial Hearing Officer Selection Advisory Committee of the Third Department; Coach of the Christian Brothers Academy High School Mock Trial Team; and Trustee of Albany Law School.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Gabriella A. Romero ’18, Assemblymember for New York State's 109th Assembly District
Gabriella A. Romero ’18 is the Assemblymember for New York State’s 109th Assembly District, representing the communities of Albany, New Scotland, and parts of Guilderland. As the daughter of two proud, unionized state workers, Gabriella grew up with a deep appreciation for public service and the transformative power of collective action. She earned her undergraduate degree from Union College and later graduated from Albany Law School.
Before entering the New York State Assembly, Gabriella served as a public defender, working as a felony trial attorney. She took cases to verdict and handled extensive mitigation files, aiming to contextualize the root causes of criminal behavior in order to advocate for fair sentencing and systemic reform. This role deepened her understanding of the systemic criminalization of poverty, as well as housing and food insecurity, inspiring her to champion meaningful changes in these areas.
Humanitarian Achievement Award
Nic Rangel ’12, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.
A champion for social justice, Nic Rangel ’12 brings her extensive leadership experience to her roles as Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York and as Adjunct Faculty member at Albany Law School. Her influential voice shapes policy within the legal profession through her appointment to the NYS Unified Court System’s Permanent Commission on Access to Justice and her election as a Member-At-Large for the 3rd JD of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association.
As Regional Deputy for the Hispanic National Bar Association and President of the Capital District Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Rangel actively bridges diverse legal communities. Her involvement spans multiple bar associations, including the Albany County Bar, the Capital District Black & Hispanic Bar, the Capital District Women's Bar, and the American Bar Associations.
Rangel's roles with Albany Law School's Government Law Center Advisory Board, UAlbany's Rockefeller College Advisory Board, and the Executive Committee of the UAlbany Alumni Association Board of Directors reflect her commitment to developing future legal minds and creating a pipeline to public service. Rangel sits on the 3rd JD Character and Fitness Committee, supporting recent law graduates as they transition to their legal careers.
Her career journey includes serving as Second Deputy Counsel and Ethics Counsel for the NYS Senate Majority Conference and Counsel to the Chair of the Albany County Legislature, as well as working in election law and voter rights. Following graduation, she was the first Pro Bono Fellow hired by Albany Law School to institutionalize and support pro bono programming to meet the then-new requirements for New York State bar admission. Nic also has extensive pre-law experience as an educator, legislative aide, whitewater raft guide and instructor, first responder/EMT and nonprofit leader.
A 2013 NYS Bar admittee, Rangel holds degrees from Albany Law School (JD) and UAlbany's Rockefeller College (MPA).
About the Grand Honors Awards:
The Trustees Gold Medal is the highest accolade bestowed by Albany Law School and is given to an individual who has demonstrated a record of exemplary support and dedication to the advancement of Albany Law School.
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes an individual’s continuous record of service to Albany Law School and is the highest honor bestowed by the National Alumni Association Board of Directors. The award criteria include, but are not limited to, outstanding professional accomplishment, sustained engagement, and continual support of Albany Law School.
The Donald D. DeAngelis '60 Excellence in Alumni Service Award recognizes outstanding dedication and commitment to alumni, to the National Alumni Association, and to Albany Law School. It was named in honor of Donald D. DeAngelis, Class of 1960, who served as the first president of the National Alumni Association Board of Directors, a member of the Albany Law School Board of Trustees, and an associate editor of the Albany Law Review, among other contributions to the law school.
The Outstanding Young Alumni Award is given to alumni who have graduated within the past ten years and have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to Albany Law School through consistent volunteerism and engagement.
The Humanitarian Achievement Award recognizes the extraordinary humanitarian contributions of an individual in the community who dedicates their time and legal expertise to improve quality of life and fight indifference, intolerance, and/or injustice through providing pro bono services, engaging in activism, supporting legal education, improving the delivery of legal services, and beyond.
