The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains will bestow the 2023 Robert S. Tucker Prize for Prosecutorial Excellence on Veronica Dragalin, chief of the Anticorruption Prosecution Office for the Republic of Moldova, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of criminal prosecution and excellence in prosecutorial practice.
“Veronica has led an impressive career demonstrating her commitment to the pursuit of justice both as an accomplished assistant United States attorney and now in a challenging and historic role as head of anticorruption for Moldova,” said Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr. “She took on this role at a particularly volatile time in the region and made history as the first-ever female in the position. Her tenacity to leave a successful position in the U.S. to lead the fight against corruption in her native country is truly admirable.”
Dragalin is a dual citizen born and raised in the Republic of Moldova and educated in the United States. She received an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and spent the first years of her career as an associate at the international law firm, Jones Day. In 2016, she became a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles where she worked in the Public Corruption & Civil Rights Section and served as the office”™s Hate Crimes coordinator.
On Aug. 1, 2022, Dragalin began her current role as the chief of the Anticorruption Prosecution Office for the Republic of Moldova, taking on the challenging role for a country with a long history of systemic political corruption at an especially turbulent time in the region. Her office of approximately 130 personnel currently handles criminal corruption investigations and prosecutions against high-level officials, including the ex-president, the suspended prosecutor general, members of parliament, judges and prosecutors.
She is already making an impact in her new role within a short time. According to Transparency International”™s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published in January 2023, Moldova”™s score has increased by three points, one of the most significant improvements made, placing it at 91 out of 180 countries in the CPI, which ranks countries annually “by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.”
“Veronica Dragalin”™s remarkable career is a reflection of the values and commitment in criminal prosecution that we aim to recognize with this award,” said Robert S. Tucker, chairman and CEO of T&M, whose gift has endowed this annual award at Haub Law.
The Robert S. Tucker Prize for Prosecutorial Excellence is awarded annually to an individual or a group of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of criminal prosecution and who demonstrate excellence in prosecutorial practice. Honorees are selected each year by a jury comprised of former prosecutors and faculty members from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
The ceremony for the Robert S. Tucker Prize for Prosecutorial Excellence will be held on Wednesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. at Pace University in Manhattan.
