Alumni

February 4, 2022 | Jeanne Leblanc - School of Law

Dean Eboni S. Nelson and Five UConn Law Alumni Named Cooper Fellows

UConn Law graduates Kathryn Bissonnette '11, Edward J. Bryan '10, Carla Nascimento Zahner '04, Beverly K. Streit-Kefalas '90 and Omar Williams '02 were also named in the Class of 2022.

UConn School of Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson

UConn School of Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson (UConn Photo).

The Connecticut Bar Foundation has named UConn Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson a James W. Cooper Fellow.

Five UConn Law alumni are also among the program’s Class of 2022. They are Kathryn Bissonnette ’11 and Edward J. Bryan ’10, both partners at Brown Paindiris & Scott LLP; Carla Nascimento Zahner ’04, a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court; Beverly K. Streit-Kefalas ’90, the probate court administrator for the State of Connecticut; and Omar Williams ’02, a judge for the U.S. District Court in the District of Connecticut.

Cooper fellows engage in projects and programs to advance the legal profession and further the cause of justice and the rule of law in society. These initiatives include educational events and projects such as the Connecticut Innocence Fund, which supports exonerated people who have been released from prison.

“I am honored to be named a James W. Cooper Fellow, and I thank the Connecticut Bar Foundation for the invitation to join such a distinguished group of jurists, attorneys, and professors,” Nelson said. “I look forward to working with everyone to continue the Fellows’ legacy of impactful service to the state and beyond.”

Nelson joins a long and distinguished list of UConn Law alumni, faculty and staff who have been named Cooper Fellows. They include professors Jon Bauer, Anne C. Dailey, Timothy Everett, Hillary Greene, An-Ping Hsieh, Leslie Levin, Joseph A. MacDougald and James H. Stark; former deans Timothy Fisher, Nell Jessup Newton and Jeremy Paul; and former interim deans Willajeanne McLean and Kurt A. Strasser; as well as Assistant Dean Karen DeMeola and Suzanne Hard, director of the Center for Career Development.

The fellows program is named in honor of James W. Cooper, a prominent New Haven attorney and a senior partner of Tyler, Cooper & Alcorn. He served as president of the Connecticut Bar Foundation from 1973 to 1975 and the Connecticut Bar Association from 1957 to 1958.