Celebrating Dean Angie D’Agostino: The Heart of the Law School

For four decades, Dean Angie D’Agostino has been a constant presence at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law: guiding students, shaping campus life, and helping define the Law School community. As she enters a well-deserved new chapter, her legacy is deeply intertwined with the Law School’s history and can be found in the generations of students, alumni, faculty, and staff whose lives she has touched.

A three-time Pace graduate, Dean D’Agostino first arrived on campus in 1982 as an undergraduate student at the College of White Plains, Pace University. “My mother graduated from Good Counsel College, and I received an academic scholarship to attend,” she recalled. Just a few years later, after graduating with her BA from Pace University in 1986, she joined the Law School staff as an Admissions Assistant—beginning a career that would span 40 years and leave a lasting impact on countless students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Over the years, Dean D’Agostino steadily rose through the ranks, serving in admissions and student affairs leadership before being appointed Dean for Students in 2000. In 2014, she assumed additional responsibilities overseeing campus affairs and residential life, managing everything from wellness initiatives and emergency response planning to scholarship oversight and student support services.

Her extraordinary commitment to the Law School community has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Pace University Outstanding Contributor Award, the President’s Award for Excellence, the University Award for COVID Leadership, and the Student Bar Association Award for Service to Community. She was also honored with the Honorable Richard J. Daronco Lifetime Service Award from the Columbian Lawyers Association of Westchester County—recognition that reflects the profound impact she has had on both the Law School and the broader Westchester legal community.

Yet despite the breadth of her responsibilities and accomplishments, colleagues and students alike consistently point to her humanity as the hallmark of her leadership.

I have tried to lead the Law School not by overseeing anyone or anything, but by taking care of those placed in my path.

—Dean Angie D'Agostino

“I have tried to lead the Law School not by overseeing anyone or anything, but by taking care of those placed in my path,” Dean D’Agostino shared in her retirement announcement to students. “That is what I hope you take from me—celebrate one another, comfort one another when needed, and understand that this journey at the Law School binds us together.”

That philosophy has shaped every aspect of her work. While serving full-time as Assistant Dean for Admissions, Dean D’Agostino enrolled in the Law School’s four-year evening program, earning her JD while balancing the demands of professional and academic life. “I entered the four-year evening program while serving as Assistant Dean to be able to advance my career in higher education,” she explained. “Having experienced the rigors of law school, especially as a part-time student, allowed me to meet students where they were in their journey and help them move forward.” In 1999, she graduated from the Law School with her JD, was admitted to the Second Department, and would ultimately complete an additional Pace degree, graduating in 2017 with her Master of Public Administration.

It was also during her time as a student at the Law School that she met her husband, Rocco Siconolfi (JD ’98). Together, they built a beautiful family while she devoted herself to supporting generations of law students.

Family remains at the center of Dean D’Agostino’s life. Their daughter, Abby, a graduate of Bucknell University, will be graduating from NYU’s master’s program in Communicative Sciences and Disorders in December, and their son, Joseph, who has multiple disabilities, has profoundly shaped the family’s perspective on resilience and purpose. As Dean D’Agostino shared, he “shows us every day that a life filled with meaning doesn’t have to follow a conventional path.”

Her experiences as both student and administrator gave her a unique understanding of the challenges students face and reinforced her belief that “service is grounded in faith, compassion, and humanity.”

Over the course of her career, Dean D’Agostino has witnessed, and helped shape, significant changes at the Law School. She points to the institution’s growth in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, its renewed commitment to wellness, and the reinstatement of the evening program as especially meaningful milestones. She has also played a central role in developing wellness programming, creating emergency response protocols, increasing scholarship opportunities, and supporting generations of students through moments of achievement, uncertainty, and crisis—including serving as Haub Law’s Campus COVID Lead during the pandemic.

Image

For many students, Dean D’Agostino, affectionately referred to as “Dean D.,” became more than an administrator. She became a mentor, advocate, and trusted source of support. Alumni frequently describe Dean D’Agostino as the person who helped them navigate some of the most difficult moments of law school and life. “If it wasn’t for you, I would not have survived law school,” one alumna shared. “Thank you for your human-centered kindness, strength, character, and ‘seeing’ me.”

Another graduate recalled Dean D’Agostino’s “kindness, steady hand, and compassion,” particularly during the uncertainty and aftermath of the September 11 attacks, which coincided with the beginning of their first semester of law school.

Alumni also credit Dean D’Agostino with helping shape their decision to attend Pace and fostering the sense of community that defined their law school experience. One alumna reflected, “Your dedication, care and leadership are simply the best,” thanking Dean D’Agostino for going “above and beyond for so many students, faculty and alumni for so long.”

“What an incredible run of service you have had at the Law School,” one student reflected. “Your regular engagement was an ongoing point of encouragement. Most of all, your kindness and deep connection to the school, the community, and your family was and will be a constant reminder about what is important.”

Colleagues echo that sentiment. One longtime faculty member described her as “absolutely unmatched in her contributions to the Law School,” adding, “It is so hard to imagine the law school without you—truly no less than a giant’s shoes to be filled.”

Having retired this past summer, Dean D’Agostino reflects on what it means to have spent 40 of the Law School’s 50 years on campus.

“I have been a part of this campus for 40 of the 50 years,” she said. “I have been trusted with student health and the ability to maintain and enhance the campus spaces.”

Still, for Dean D’Agostino, the Law School was never simply a workplace.

“The Law School has never simply been a workplace to me; it has been my home, my community, and my family,” she wrote to students. “I will carry the memories, friendships, and lessons from these 40 years with me always.”