The Law Alumni Association's Executive Director Emerita Ilene Fleischmann with Stephanie Mack '08, incoming Executive Director.
All-alumni reunion celebration marks a new era for Law Alumni Association
The UB Law Alumni Association is in good hands. Literally.
The handoff will take place Saturday, Oct. 14, at a special All-Alumni Reunion Celebration, when the Association’s outgoing executive director, Ilene Fleischmann, vice dean emerita, passes a ceremonial baton to her successor, Stephanie Mack ’08, incoming executive director. It’s the lighthearted centerpiece of the reunion, which will also celebrate the anniversaries of those class years ending in 3 or 8, and toast the Classes of 1963, 1968 and 1973 as they reach anniversaries of 50 years and beyond.
Fleischmann, known to generations of students and alumni as Dean Ilene, is moving to emerita status, where she will invest her energy and decades of UB Law knowledge into the law school’s oral history project and other archival efforts. The move comes 15 months after she and Mack have worked side by side, with the goal of making the transition between LAA executive directors a seamless one.
“I’m thrilled to have such an able successor in Stephanie Mack, who will go on to do great things in her own right,” Fleischmann says. “Under her leadership, the law school will certainly strengthen and deepen its relationships with our alumni.
“I’m grateful to the university and to the law school for allowing me to pursue such a long and rewarding career that touched on all the different ways alumni connect with the law school. And I have a deep appreciation for the many wonderful relationships that have developed over the years with alumni lawyers and judges, so many of whom have become dear friends.”
“Ilene has left an indelible mark on the organization, and her efforts on behalf of the law school, its students and the alumni base will be forever appreciated,” says Michael J. Hecker ’09, president of the UB Law Alumni Association. “While we will miss her in the executive director role, we’re excited that we have found such an enthusiastic and capable successor in Stephanie.”
Mack has been meeting with UB Law alumni chapters, organizing professional development and social events, and growing her own network of law school alumni, building on professional relationships she already enjoyed as a longtime litigator in the Western New York legal community. Her executive director role, she says, is a welcome pivot from her time in courtrooms, which was often built around adversarial advocacy.
“What I find most rewarding,” Mack says, “is that everybody—the faculty, the staff, and the alumni—are all on the same team. We have the same goal: to support the students and guide them on a path to success. We all truly care and feel passionately about the law school. It’s been wonderful to be a part of that experience, and I’m proud to be a part of this team.”
Make a gift to the Ilene R. Fleischmann Public Interest Summer Fellowship Fund.
As Fleischmann steps back from full-time work, she is leaving an important legacy: the Ilene R. Fleischmann Public Interest Summer Fellowship, which will support students working in summer internships in the public interest. Earlier this year, Ilene established this fund as a permanent endowment for the benefit of our law students with her own personal gift.
The fund is open for additional contributions from alumni in tribute to Ilene’s long career at UB Law. [Make a Gift Online]
But most importantly, those at the Oct. 14 reunion will be able to celebrate Dean Ilene’s contributions to the law school and welcome Stephanie Mack, as they watch that baton change hands.
To join in the festivities and catch up with your classmates, register to attend.