University Trustee Hon. Joanne Alper honored by Arlington County Bar Foundation

Friday, December 10, 2010, By News Staff

The Arlington County Bar Foundation in Virginia recently honored Syracuse University Trustee Hon. Joanne F. Alper ‘72 with the 2010 William L. Winston Award. At a November luncheon in Arlington, Va., Alper was presented with this award that honors and recognizes members of the Northern Virginia Community for long standing public service, and those “who have distinguished themselves … in the promotion of democratic ideals and the advancement of the rule of law.” 

She is currently a circuit court judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit, to which she was appointed in 1998. From 1991-1998, she was a Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge for the 17th Judicial District. During that time, she was the chief judge from 1996-1998. 

Alper’s legal career before joining the bench was in private practice with the firm of Cohen, Gettings, Alper & Dunham from 1973-1991. She began as a law clerk and rose through the ranks from associate to partner. 

Her participation in numerous professional associations includes serving as president of the Arlington County Bar Association; on the board of directors of the Arlington County Bar Foundation, of which she is a founding member; president of District 4 of the National Association of Women Judges; president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers; and chair of the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar Association. 

Her education includes a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from The College of Arts and Sciences, and a J.D. with honors from the George Washington University School of Law.

 At SU, Alper is a vice chair of the Board of Trustees, member of the executive committee and the budget committee, and is chair of the audit committee. She helped create the interdisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media, combining the College of Law, the Maxwell School, and the Newhouse School in a first-of-its-kind program. She serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Syracuse University College of Law, and served as president of the SU Alumni Association from 2005-06. She and her husband Paul endowed the Paul E. and Hon. Joanne F. Alper ’72 Chair in Judiciary Studies in the College of Law, and created the Muriel S. Alper Memorial Award for SU students participating in the SU Abroad program.