Awards

UNC Law Alumni Association is pleased to host the annual Law Alumni Association Awards Presentation. This special program is a highlight of Law Alumni Weekend held annually in the fall.

Nominations are accepted for 2025 through March 1, 2025 on the nomination form. Recipients are announced in the spring along with the date for Law Alumni Weekend and the Awards Presentation.

*Nominees submitted and not selected will automatically be considered for the following year and will not need to be re-nominated.

Please contact law_alumni@unc.edu for assistance.

The Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors a UNC School of Law graduate whose lifetime career has been highly distinguished, and whose achievements and contributions are widely recognized as significant and outstanding in their field. The recipient should be an alumnus/a who has made significant contributions to the law school, whose long-standing professional career, and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on and bring honor to the individual, the Bar and the School of Law.

The Distinguished Alumni Award

The Distinguished Alumni Award is an annual award that honors a UNC School of Law graduate whose accomplishments and contributions have enhanced the law school and the practice of law or other profession at the local, state, national or international level. The recipient should demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Excellence in the practice of law or other profession

• Noteworthy public service, including as members of the judiciary or other elected / appointed office

• Outstanding service to the School of Law

• The high ideals of the legal profession

The Emerging Leader Award

The UNC Law Alumni Association created this annual award in 2002 to honor an emerging leader for achievements that have brought credit to the school, the legal profession, or society. The recipient of The Emerging Leader Award must be a graduate of UNC School of Law within the past 15 years and must demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Notable accomplishments in the practice of law or other profession

• Outstanding service to the School of Law

• High level of community involvement

Note: In 2024, this award name was changed from Outstanding Recent Graduate to The Emerging Leader Award.

Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson Award for Faculty Excellence

The Professor S. Elizabeth Gibson Award for Faculty Excellence is an award that honors a tenured faculty member of UNC School of Law who typifies the outstanding qualities of integrity, legal scholarship, exemplary teaching and commitment to service to UNC School of Law and the University. The award is named for S. Elizabeth Gibson ’76, Burton Craige Professor of Law at UNC School of Law, to honor the qualities that she exemplified in her more than thirty years as a much loved and respected educator.

Extraordinary Service Award

Established in 2021, the Extraordinary Service Award honors an individual who has provided exemplary volunteer service to UNC School of Law that has enhanced the school; brought great credit to the school; and/or otherwise benefited the school as well as its students, faculty, employees and graduates. Note that this recipient need not be a graduate of UNC School of Law or a lawyer.