Professor John Nolon, distinguished professor of law at Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, was the recent recipient of the Founder”™s Award by the university”™s Land Use Law Center.
The Center was founded in 1993 with the mission of encouraging the development of sustainable communities by promoting innovation in land use strategies and educating future leaders through training programs and research and consulting services. Nolan was the Center”™s founder and serves as its co-counsel, and the award is presented to those who have collaborated with a community in land use and “reinvented democracy to make change happen.”
“We are building communities, we”™re preserving the environment and we”™re creating a sustainable world for future generations to live in,” said Nolon, who accepted the award during a reception tied to Pace”™s 21st annual Alfred B. DelBello Land Use and Sustainable Development Conference.
Two students of the Center were also honored by the university. Taylor M. Palmer, a partner at law firm Cuddy & Feder and a graduate of Pace Law, was the recipient of the Distinguished Young Attorney Award, given to graduates who have worked closely with the Center and have continued their commitment to land use law following graduation.
“Because he was such a big supporter of the Center, any time Taylor Palmer called the Land Use Center office, we were all scrambling to make sure that we called him back,” said Jessica Bacher, the Center”™s executive director, in presenting the award.
“This award really means a lot to me,” Palmer said. “This is a sort of nerd-out for the land use world that we are in. It”™s a certain collegial group, but it has introduced me to people that have helped me as a person to grow both personally and professionally.”
The Center”™s also presented the Prof. John R. Nolon Student Achievement Award to Bailey Andree, who has published three articles as a research assistant to Nolon. The award honors a graduating student of Pace Law who made significant contributions to the Center”™s mission.
Andree described her time at the law center engaging in studies and drafting a large body of work on subjects including land use, climate change and racial inequality. She also related how Nolon aided in getting her work published and seen by figures in land use.
“I”™m honored to receive the John R. Nolon Student Achievement Award, but the vast majority of that achievement would not be possible without John R. Nolon himself,” Andree said.
