Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Professor Nicholas A. Robinson was honored with Pace University’s prestigious Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his dedication to teaching, service, and scholarship, and his significant contributions to and impact on the University community. A pioneering figure in environmental law, Professor Robinson has been a distinguished member of the faculty at Haub Law since 1978. The award was presented during the 2025 Faculty Recognition Ceremony, held in the company of esteemed colleagues and peers.

Image

This honor is among many that reflect Professor Robinson’s extraordinary legacy. In 2009, Pace University conferred the prestigious position of University Professor for the Environment on Professor Robinson for his significant contribution to scholarship in the field of environmental law, both in the USA and abroad. He also holds the title of inaugural Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus.

Professor Robinson is widely recognized in the U.S. and globally as a pioneer of modern environmental law. He began developing environmental law in 1969, when he was named to the Legal Advisory Committee of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. Professor Robinson is Chair Emeritus of the IUCN World Commission on Environment Law, serving from 1996 to 2004, and responsible for many innovations including the launch of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law. He has engaged in drafting treaties and counseling different countries on preparation of environmental laws.

During his tenure at the Law School, Professor Robinson helped establish its environmental law programs, founded the environmental law review, launched the Pace Environmental Law Clinic, secured Pace’s membership in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and pioneered the first United Nation’s Environmental Diplomacy Practicum. His work and influence can be attributed to advancing the Law School’s premiere reputation as the top ranked Environmental Law Program in the nation and across the globe.

Professor Robinson is a prolific legal scholar with hundreds of books, chapters, law review and scholarly journal articles and citations to his credit on pressing topics including conservation, historic preservation, climate change, sustainable development, zoonosis, human rights, international environmental law and more. A collection of his work is preserved in the Nicholas A. Robinson Seminar Space dedicated at the Law School in 2024.

Professor Robinson has contributed greatly to public service at the local, state and international level, serving on dozens of boards and committees over his career. Demonstrating his impact in the field of Environmental Law, Professor Robinson has been honored with numerous awards and accolades. Two awards have also been created in his honor to celebrate outstanding achievement in the field of Environmental Law: the Nicholas Robinson Award for Distinguished Environmental Achievement, established at Haub Law in 2005, and the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law, created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law in 2021.

Image

The Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes Professor Robinson’s extraordinary career and his unwavering dedication to excellence in the field of Environmental Law and the indelible impact he has had on Pace University as a whole.

Established in 1971 in White Plains, the law firm Cuddy & Feder LLP has always had strong ties with its community. When Pace Law School (now the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University) opened its doors five years later, a close relationship between the firm and the law school naturally evolved. Now, in 2025, fourteen Haub Law graduates are employed as attorneys at Cuddy & Feder.

“Our firm prioritizes initiatives that support Haub Law students,” shared Kristen Motel ’15. “Our firm’s Diversity Committee theme for 2025 is: Cuddy & Feder Gives Back. We want to highlight our firm’s commitment to local communities. In this spirit, we came up with the idea to organize a suit donation to Haub Law’s Career Center, which was met with enthusiastic support throughout the firm.”

The suit donation initiative was spearheaded by Kristen Motel ’15, Maximillian Mahalek ’19, and the firm’s Diversity Committee. Both Kristen and Maximillian shared that they both had very positive experiences during their time as students at Haub Law. “The opportunity to participate in different legal clinics, in tandem with the support of the Career Center, opens countless doors for students to get in-depth and practical experience working in their fields of interest,” said Maximillian.

The Haub Law community is a close-knit community where many graduates rely on one another for mentoring, referrals, and networking long into the future.

“The Haub Law community is a close-knit community where many graduates rely on one another for mentoring, referrals, and networking long into the future,” said Kristen. “Alumni strive to stay engaged and seek out ways to support the school and its students. We want to equip the next generation of legal professionals with the tools and confidence that they need to succeed. This latest initiative of Cuddy & Feder is an example of that support.”

Film to Make its International Premiere on May 19

PaceDocs team spotlights Azorean musical heritage

Pace University’s documentary film team – PaceDocs – will be making its international premiere of its latest film, Viola da Terra: Harmony of the Azores, on the Azorean island of Terceira, Portugal, on May 19.

It follows the film’s successful debut on May 5 to a sold-out theater at the Jacob Burns Film Center and marks the second time that a PaceDocs production will be shown in two languages – Portuguese and English.

The documentary captures the essence of Azorean music through interviews with master musician Rafael Carvalho, Mayor José Gabriel do Álamo de Meneses, educators and artisans, highlighting the instrument's significance in preserving the region's heritage.

Image

The documentary was produced by Dyson College of Arts and Sciences Professors Maria Luskay and Lou Guarneri, and Pace University’s documentary film team.

“Producing a documentary in just 14 weeks is an extraordinary feat, one that few, if any, professors and students — undergraduate or graduate — undertake at this level,” said Luskay. “This is not a class where assignments are handed out and left to be completed independently. We’re in the trenches together — writing, filming, editing, problem solving. We do it all side by side, that’s what makes it so meaningful and so rewarding.”

Viola da Terra: Harmony of the Azores delves into the rich musical traditions of the Azores, focusing on the viola da terra— a traditional 12- to 15-string instrument integral to Azorean cultural identity.

The documentary is the focus of the popular class, “Producing the Documentary”, which is part of the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences at Pace University’s highly regarded film program that requires students complete a full-length environmentally themed documentary within 14 weeks. During the process, students learn teamwork, problem-solving, research, and organization, along with technical skills such as lighting, sound, camera work, interviewing, and other real-life lessons necessary to complete a film.

The course prepares students for careers in a growing industry: Westchester County, for example, is home to several major film studios and the county recently announced that its film and television sector generated $924 million in economic impact in 2024. The data highlights steady growth in production activity, employment and local revenue, reinforcing Westchester’s reputation as a sought-after destination for film and television production.

The PaceDocs crew conducted on-location filming across São Miguel and Terceira islands, capturing performances, workshops, and community events that showcase the viola da terra's role in Azorean culture. The premiere event featured a reception with traditional Azorean music and a post-screening Q&A session with the filmmakers.

“I’m originally from Brazil, so being part of a documentary that also includes Portuguese meant a lot to me,” said Carolina Caputo Nogueira, a sophomore digital cinema and filmmaking major. “This is one of the most important things I’ve done so far because it helps bring the culture of Portugal and the Azores here. It’s something we should keep alive — and I’m proud to have contributed to that.”

“This was my second time on the PaceDocs team after working on The Cooper in Spain, and filming in the Azores was an entirely new and inspiring experience,” said Donovann Smit, a senior digital cinema and filmmaking major from California. “Operating the drone in such a stunning landscape gave me the chance to capture the beauty and culture of the islands in a way that brought the story to life.”

“Viola da Terra” continues a proud tradition of producing high-quality, meaningful and award-winning films. In recent years, Pace filmmakers have produced documentaries from around the globe focusing on a number of topics, including the craft of barrel making in Spain (The Cooper, 2024), which received multiple international awards; the farm-to-table food movement in France (2023); how oysters depend on the ebb and flow of tides (2022); the importance of bees as pollinators in our food supply (2021); the impact of earthquakes in Hawaii (2019); the endurance of the people of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria (2018); Cuba at a cultural crossroads (2016); reviving Curacao’s coral reefs (2015); as well as many other poignant films.

“Once again, Dyson College’s student filmmakers have created a fascinating and beautifully crafted documentary,” said Tresmaine R. Grimes, dean of the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education. “Viola da Terra: Harmony of the Azores highlights the importance of preserving cultural traditions and shows how this unique instrument reflects the soul of the Azorean community.”

About Dyson College of Arts and Science

Pace University’s liberal arts college, Dyson College, offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as many courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.

About Pace University

Since 1906, Pace University has been transforming the lives of its diverse students—academically, professionally, and socioeconomically. With campuses in New York City and Westchester County, Pace offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs to 13,600 students in its College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, Sands College of Performing Arts, School of Education, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Versatile – a word to describe the work done by speech pathologists, and more specifically, Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) student, Julia Bonoan.

Julia joined the CSD program in the fall of 2023 and has had the opportunity to complete one of her externships at the Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) - a short-term, field placement experience where students connect with mentoring physicians and supervising clinicians.

As a medical placement opportunity, Julia would meet with several patients throughout the day for either their usually scheduled therapy session, an initial evaluation, or a Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBSS). This experience pushed Julia into new learning opportunities.

Image

“It was difficult to switch gears from seeing a patient with aphasia, then assessing a patient’s swallow in an MBSS, and then doing cognitive therapy with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patient,” Julia explained. “But I was able to adapt quickly to the fast-paced environment with the support and guidance from my supervisors and by making sure I was prepared for the day.”

Even though the medical placement created a new challenge for Julia, working with the patients made it all worth it. Each patient has their own goal in mind and their own treatment plan to follow. She describes her patients’ motivation to succeed and their desire to get better as “contagious” – which in turn helped her be a better provider.

To best prepare Julia and her fellow classmates for their externships, the CSD department’s faculty and staff work closely with the students. Students take specialized courses including Dysphagia, Adult Language Disorders, Motor Speech Disorders, Neuroscience, and other courses that create the foundation needed for success.

Additionally, all students work in Pace’s on-campus Speech, Language, and Hearing Center in Manhattan, a cornerstone of the CSD Program, before moving on to the externships. The clinic is free to the community and patients range from children through geriatric with all different disorders to give a well-rounded, educational training experience.

To ensure that student’s get a variety of experiences, they get connected with multiple externship sites – including private practices, a highly specialized private school for students ages 5-21 years with traumatic brain injuries and multiple disabilities, and a school that provides high quality services to children of all ages and their families utilizing a combination of academic and therapeutic approaches. The Program makes a point of connecting students with placements based on their interests and preferences, which allowed Julia the opportunity to work at her old elementary school, creating what she called “a full circle moment.”

When the CSD Program was launched in 2015, Founding Director and Associate Professor Linda Carozza, PhD, worked to develop her connections with community partners and wanted to find a partner that was medically focused.

“In medical speech, the students actually practiced bedside techniques, on patients who have had strokes, or catastrophic accidents causing TBI.” Dr. Carozza explained. “Julia is a wonderful, accepting, and open-minded student. She's perfect for these types of programs with the adults and in the community and works very well with the hospital directly.”

Prior to joining Pace, Dr. Carozza had started a patient group at SIUH, focusing on helping patients with long-standing aphasia that occurred after a stroke in order to create a community where they could share communication challenges, help practice techniques after being released from the hospital, and provide support to one another. Her existing relationship with SIUH made way for the perfect opportunity for CSD students to complete their externship at this sought-after site.

"Medical settings like SIUH are highly desired sites for externship,” explained Ellayne Ganzfried, M.S, Director of the Speech, Language Center. "We are proud of Julia's motivation to prepare for the very competitive interview process and successfully secure this opportunity."

Image

In addition to landing her goal externship locations, Julia has continually taken advantage of the opportunities the CSD Program has provided. She attended the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention in Boston her first semester, giving her networking opportunities with speech-language pathologists across the country. In the classroom, faculty created interprofessional collaborations on case studies and simulations with students in the College of Health Professions Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Physician Assistant master programs which Julia notes has been a highlight of the program.

“Pace provided me with a challenging and supportive environment to thrive in the field of speech-language pathology. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunities I was given to practice my skills and begin my journey as a clinician. Pace has given me the foundation to be the speech-language pathologist I’ve always dreamed of becoming.”

Julia is expected to graduate in May 2025. We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors!