Several top awards were presented during the College of Law Honors and Awards Ceremony on May 11.

Graduate Scott Stevenson was named valedictorian of his J.D. class and the Edward D. Foreman Most Distinguished Student. Stevenson, a member of Stetson’s award-winning Moot Court Board, received the Foreman Most Distinguished Student Award as the best all-around student for both passion for the legal profession and commitment to community service. The award was presented by Bonnie Foreman, who is a member of the College of Law Board of Overseers, the University Board of Trustees, and the Stetson University College of Law Hall of Fame.

The Dean’s Award for students was presented to student Marcela Bonells. Bonells graduated with a J.D. and Certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law and was an editor of the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy. Bonells also completed an externship at the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland and presented a paper at the workshop on wetland laws and policies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Dean’s Award for staff was presented to Patricia Johnson, Patricia Toups and Laura Zuppo. Johnson is executive director for Budget and Finance; Toups is the interim director for College Relations and Zuppo is executive director of Admissions and Student Financial Planning at Stetson Law. The award recognizes extraordinary service to Stetson University College of Law.

The Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to Professor Jeffrey Minneti and Professor Tishia Dunham. Minneti is the law school’s director of academic success and a professor of legal skills, and he teaches in the areas of academic skills, advanced critical thinking and legal analysis,U.S. legal research and writing. Dunham is the director of bar preparation services and assistant professor of legal skills, and she served as a bar exam grader for the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and volunteered to help repeat takers pass the FloridaBar exam while in private practice before joining Stetson.

The Homer and Dolly Hand Award for Faculty Scholarship was presented to Professor Luz Nagle. Nagle specializes in international criminal law and is a member of the ABA Criminal Justice Council and International Bar Association’s Legal Practice Division Council, among other organizations. Deeply involved in the global fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery, Professor Nagle was a member of the Florida Governor’s Task Force on Human Trafficking. She has been recognized by the Florida Coalition against Human Trafficking and the California State Senate for her involvement in training law enforcement personnel and legal professionals about best practices in combating this growing transborder crime.

The Dickerson-Brown Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship was presented to Professor Louis Virelli III, who teaches in the areas of administrative law, civil procedure, constitutional law and federal pretrial practice. He regularly co-coaches two of Stetson’s moot court teams, and is the faculty adviser to the Freethinkers Rhetoric Society and Stetson’s American Constitution Society. He has published on topics including constitutional interpretation, congressional power, the teaching of evolution in public schools, and the role of scientific information in the regulatory process.

Lt. Cmdr. Nieva M.S. Brock, who serves as staff judge advocate and ethics counselor to the director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), presented the commencement address to 317 students in the sunny outdoor courtyard at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport on May 12. Among the students were 48 part-time J.D. students, nine LL.M. in elder law students, 12 LL.M. in international law students, and 28 J.D./M.B.A. students.

Stetson’s law commencement speaker, Lt. Cmdr. Brock, is an expert in the military rule of law. She has taught courses on classified information to prosecutors and defense counsel in all military services and provided training on protecting children online for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. As an educator, Lt. Cmdr. Brock has led courses and training programs for military and U.S. government attorneys on topics including the use of classified information, discovery and evidence matters, and search and seizure issues.

For more information about Stetson Law graduation, visit law.stetson.edu//graduation.

To download a high-resolution image of Lt. Cmdr. Brock, visit Stetson Law News.