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Contact: Rosanne M. Van Heertum
Director of Development, The New YorkBar Foundation
rvanh@tnybf.org
518/487-5650
December 28, 2008
NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION TO CONFER LIFETIME
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ON MARYANN SACCOMANDO FREEDMAN
Former President to be honored for significantly
advancing Foundation’s purposes
The New York Bar Foundation will confer its Lifetime Achievement
Award on Maryann Saccomando Freedman during the annual dinner meeting of
the Fellows of The New York Bar Foundation on Friday, January 30, 2009.
The dinner will take place at the Metropolitan Club in New York
City.
Freedman was first elected to The Foundation’s Board of
Directors in 1982 and served as its first woman president from 1997 to
2000. She served as vice president from 1994 to 1997 and as a director
from 1982-1994 and 2000-2008. She was chair of the Committee on
Grants--Delivery of Legal Services from 1989 to 1997. Additionally, she
served on numerous Foundation Board committees. She was elected a Fellow
of The New York Bar Foundation in 1983.
John R. Horan, president of The New York Bar Foundation stated,
“Maryann’s dedication to the law and selfless acts of
service to the bar and to the people of the State of New York,
particularly in the Buffalo area communities, deserve to be recognized.
She has devoted years of her life to supporting and promoting the
charitable and educational activities of The Foundation and it is an
honor to bestow our Lifetime Achievement Award on such a deserving
recipient.”
In addition to The Foundation, Freedman holds the distinction of
having been the first woman president of the New York State Bar
Association and the Erie County Bar Association. During her tenure as
Foundation president, Freedman created the positions of Fellows District
Chairs who assumed responsibility for raising awareness of the Fellows
program and the activities of The Foundation in their districts.
Additionally, she established higher levels of giving for Fellows by
creating the $2,500 Sustaining and Life Sustaining categories, and took
meaningful steps to increase contributions to The Foundation, to bring
visibility to the work of The Foundation, and to enhance its grant
making program. In 2005, the Maryann Saccomando Freedman Circle of
Giving was established by The Foundation in her honor.
Freedman has been a member of the House of Delegates of the New York
State Bar Association since 1980, was the Association’s delegate
to the American Bar Association from 1986 to 2001, and has served on
numerous committees with the Association. She was awarded the
NYSBA’s prestigious Ruth G. Schapiro Award in 1994.
Freedman is a graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law.
Her bar admissions include New York, U.S. District Court for Western New
York, U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the United States Supreme Court. She
served as Assistant Attorney General for New York State and, for ten
years, as a Matrimonial Referee in the State Supreme Court. She is
currently of counsel with the law firm of Cohen & Lombardo, Buffalo,
where she maintains a general civil practice and is chair of its
Matrimonial and Family Law department.
Actively involved in her community, Freedman has served as an officer or
director on Boards of numerous organizations. She has been recognized
with countless honors and awards for outstanding achievements during her
career and for her service to the community. She is listed in
Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who of American Law, Who’s
Who of American Women, World’s Who’s Who of Women, Foremost
Women of the Twentieth Century, and the Dictionary of International
Biography.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was established last year to honor former
officers or directors of The Foundation who, due to term limits, are no
longer able to serve in that capacity, or who, prior to the
establishment of term limits, served a minimum of ten years as an
officer or director of The Foundation. The honoree’s service and
leadership (as officer or director) must have significantly advanced the
purposes of The Foundation. In addition, the honoree’s service as
an officer or director and reputation as a lawyer and bar leader must
have brought significant recognition and acclaim to The Foundation.
Established in 1950, The New York Bar Foundation is
dedicated to aiding charitable and educational projects to meet the
law-related needs of the public and the legal profession. For more
information, contact Rosanne Van Heertum, director of development, at
518/487-5650 or go to www.tnybf.org
to make an online donation.
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