Release

Chief Judge Judith Kaye Delivers UAlbany's 21st Annual Burton Lecture

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 18, 2006) -- The Hon. Judith Kaye, Chief Judge, New York State Court of Appeals, today delivered the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy's 21st annual John E. Burton Lecture. Judge Kaye's lecture, titled My Life as Chief Judge: The Chapter on Juries, addressed the concept of the jury and how it has evolved over time, the current status of the jury in the United States, the jury system reforms of the last dozen years and the latest efforts to improve the jury process.

Judge Kaye is the first woman to occupy the state judiciary's highest office, having been appointed Chief Judge by Governor Mario M. Cuomo and sworn in on March 23, 1993. She previously became the first woman to serve on New York State's highest court when Governor Cuomo appointed her associate judge of the Court of Appeals on September 12, 1983.

Her current posts also include service as: chair of the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children; founding member and honorary chair, Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert (JALBCA); member of the Board of Editors, New York State Bar Journal; and trustee, The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation. She has served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts (2002-03) and co-chair of the Commission on the American Jury of the American Bar Association (2004-05). She is the author of numerous publications--particularly articles dealing with legal process, state constitutional law, women in law, professional ethics and problem-solving courts--as well as the recipient of many awards and several honorary degrees.

The Distinguished Public Service Awards Ceremony for Outstanding Contributions to Public Service followed the lecture, honoring notable individuals who have dedicated their careers to serving the people of New York:

Christine W. Ward, assistant commissioner for the State Archives (state archivist), was awarded the College of Computing and Information Distinguished Public Service Award for her endeavors to build up one of the premier state archives in the nation. The New York State Archives has received several major national and regional awards given by the archival profession. It operates programs that offer services to New York's 4300 local governments and 3000 community organizations and cares for more than 140 million records that are among the oldest in the country.

Prior to appointment as state archivist in 2003, Ward served as acting state archivist. In nominating her for the permanent position, Carole F. Huxley, deputy commissioner for Cultural Education, said, "Chris took the 'Acting' in her title as a mandate to act. She had kept the Archives' operations and its national leadership moving forward with undiminished energy. Within the past year alone, the State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have won eight major awards for excellence."

Ward received a bachelor's degree in history from Russell Sage College in Troy, New York in 1971 and a master's degree in Library Science from the University at Albany in 1975. She began her professional career as a manuscripts librarian with the Albany Institute of History and Art, joining the New York State Archives as a senior archivist in 1981. Ward has published and lectured extensively on topics concerning the archives profession. She has long provided expert advice to national organizations in conservation and preservation - the Council on Library and Information Resources, the Commission on Preservation and Access, the Northeast Document Conservation Center, and the Research Library Group. As a member of the Society of American Archivists since 1981, she has chaired several national committees and was selected for the organization's Fellow Award, an honor given to individual who exemplify the best of the profession.

John R. Dunne, senior counsel at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, was awarded the School of Criminal Justice Distinguished Public Service Award. Dunne has served in a variety of federal, state and local government positions for thirty years. From 1990 to 1993 he was the assistant attorney general for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 1966 to 1989 he was a member of the New York State Senate. From 1956 to 1965 he was law secretary to a New York State Supreme Court Justice and headed the law department of the Nassau County Court. Throughout his local and state service, he actively practiced law on Long Island, as a partner in the national law firm of Rivkin, Radler, Dunne & Bayh. He concentrates his practice on environmental, criminal, civil rights, governmental affairs and appellate law.

Dunne has authored a number of articles which have appeared in various law school journals including Hofstra, Fordham and St. Louis, the op-ed paged of The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and the New York Law Journal, Business Insurance and New York Bar Journal.

He is also a member of New York State Bar, District of Columbia Bar and U.S. Supreme Court Bar, and a past Member of House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.

William A. Johnson, Jr., former mayor of Rochester, received the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy Distinguished Public Service Award. Johnson. was elected the 64th mayor of the City of Rochester, New York State's third largest city, in November 1993, receiving over 72 percent of the votes. As Mayor, Johnson developed the Neighbors Building Neighborhoods Programme (NBN), which introduced the principles of citizen participation and empowerment into every neighborhood. The Neighborhood Empowerment Teams are a series of neighborhood-based mini-City Halls, where police officers and civilian code enforcement officers are assigned to work directly with citizens to resolve a host of quality-of-life issues, in a timely and efficient manner. The Community Oriented Policing initiative has worked to improve police-community relations and has initiated and motivated a number of collaborative efforts between citizens and police to reduce crime and violence in neighborhoods.

Prior to his first election, Mayor Johnson served for 21 years as president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Rochester, where he was responsible for developing and overseeing a number of programs in education and youth development, family services, employment training and housing development. Among the more innovative initiatives were the Salute to Black Scholars, a program founded in 1980 to recognize the academic achievements of black high school students. In 22 years, more than 3,800 students have been cited and tens of millions of dollars in community scholarships have been awarded. The Black Scholars Endowment Fund was founded in 1987 with $1 million. It has since awarded financial assistance to hundreds of deserving college students. The Urban League Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit subsidiary was formed in 1986, has constructed hundreds of new, affordable homes for first time owners. These programs remain strong and vibrant today, nearly 13 years after Mayor Johnson's tenure with the League.

During his campaign in 2001, Mayor Johnson announced he would not seek a fourth term if he were to win reelection. In November of that year, Mayor Johnson garnered over 78 percent of the vote on his way to winning a third term in office. He completed 12 years of distinguished service to the city when his third term ended in 2005.

Mayor Johnson earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in political science from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1965 and 1967 respectively. At Howard, he was the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, a Falk Fellow in the political science department, and listed in Who's Who Among Students in the 1965 edition. He was honored by his alma mater in March 2003 with an Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement.

Morris 'Marty' Silverman was posthumously awarded the School of Social Welfare Distinguished Public Service Award. Silverman, who died Jan. 26, 2006 at the age of 93, was a successful businessman who became one of the greatest philanthropic supporters of educational and health-related causes in the capital region. Through the Marty and Dorothy Silverman Foundation, formed in 1984 and named for him and his late wife, Silverman provided support for numerous programs that benefit education, abused and neglected children, and indigent senior citizens. The Foundation funded a number of Jewish causes, including the Holocaust Museum Houston; a Jewish chapel at West Point Academy; and housing for thousands of former Soviet Jews in Israel. Silverman was staunch a supporter of UAlbany's Life Science Research Initiative through a $1 million gift, and also supported the Jewish studies program at the University. He was also behind the push to create the National Biomedical Nanotech Center in Albany. The plan calls for staff members from Albany Medical Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx and the University at Albany to work under one roof developing biomedical devices and procedures. Silverman was born in Troy on May 23, 1912. He graduated from Troy High in 1930 and from Albany Law School in 1936. Silverman went on to practice law with the Legal Aid Society in Albany.

The Burton Lecture is named for John E. Burton, who served as New York's budget director under Governor Thomas E. Dewey from 1943 to 1950. Burton, who was credited with modernizing the state's budget process, was a key member of the special committee that recommended the creation of the State University of New York System. He also chaired the committee that created the first public administration degree-granting program at UAlbany. Sponsors are UAlbany's Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy and the schools of Criminal Justice, Information Science & Policy and Social Welfare.

Rockefeller College:
Ranked among the top-10 Public Affairs programs in the nation, the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy's core mission is to discover, communicate, and apply knowledge about politics, governance, public policy, and public management. The college directly helps public managers, policymakers, and others deal effectively with the challenges they face, making democracy stronger and governments more effective around the world. For more information, visit the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy.

College of Computing and Information:
The College of Computing and Information at the University at Albany focuses on preparing the information technology (IT) workforce of tomorrow, advancing scientific research and furthering the University's partnerships with government and industry. Consisting of the departments of Information Studies (formerly the School of Information Science and Policy), Computer Science, and the Informatics faculty, the college offers a master's program in information science that is accredited by the American Library Association, and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in computer science and in library and information science. For more information on the college, visit the College of Computing and Information.

School of Criminal Justice:
Ranked as the No. 2 program in the nation, UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice examines the political, economic and cultural patterns that shape definitions of crime and influence policy. Graduates find opportunities in the expanding academic field of criminal justice research and teaching, all the operating agencies of criminal justice, in addition to the many private and non-profit organizations which provide services or make policy recommendations. For more information, visit the School of Criminal Justice.

Social Welfare:
UAlbany's School of Social Welfare is ranked second in per capita scholarly productivity among the social work programs in the nation. The school's mission is to further social and economic justice and to serve people who are vulnerable, marginalized or oppressed. This mission is implemented through education, knowledge development, and service that promote leadership for evidence-based social work with a global perspective. As a recognized national and international leader in developing innovative and creative programs, along with facilitating public-private partnerships, the school has been able to attract premier students, providing them with an unsurpassed educational experience at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral level. For more information, visit the School of Social Welfare.