National Alumni Association (NAA)
Welcome from National Alumni Association President
Mark Chieco ’02
Albany Law School means many different things to many people. When I first arrived at the law school, I didn’t know a single person and I didn’t know what kind of law I wanted to practice. Fast forward three years and I made life-long friends and found a passion for practicing law that was fostered by some of the most talented and best professors that I had ever come across. While at the law school, I was able to get involved in many different aspects of the legal field, from the Government Law Center to various internships with private firms and public sector jobs. This is where I learned what I loved about being a lawyer.
Albany Law School taught me so many valuable lessons. I learned not only how to be a great practitioner of the law, but how to conduct myself as a lawyer in the profession. The principles that we were taught have stuck with me in the 20 years since I graduated.
One of the most important aspects of the National Alumni Association is helping to preserve these traditions, principles, and educational experiences for the next generation of great legal minds coming to Albany Law School. The National Alumni Association is committed to accomplishing this by staying engaged, not only with our world-wide network of alumni, but with the students who are directly benefitting from the advancements that we have helped foster at our alma mater.
The National Alumni Association has many moving parts that cannot be effective without the work of the board members and the executive committee. Over the past decade we have grown by leaps and bounds and have created many new programs and resurrected some past programs with a new, modern twist. One of the cornerstones of the National Alumni Association is the Alumni Initiative in Mentoring (AIM) Program which pairs alumni as mentors with current Albany Law School students allowing them access to actual practitioners who can give real life, practical advice on how to succeed. Over the past years we have also brought back the National Alumni Association Awards Ceremony where we are able to recognize those distinguished alumni that have given back selflessly to the school in order to make it a better place.
In today’s world, everything is constantly changing which sometimes makes it a little tough to navigate, even for the brightest minds. Being a graduate of Albany Law School is a special honor, and as alumni, we should all want to provide ideas and a little bit of our time to give back and help provide the same wonderful experiences that we had at the law school.
The National Alumni Association Mission
The Alumni Association of Albany Law School was organized to promote the welfare of the School. The Association includes every person who has received a degree from Albany Law School and every former full-time student who was not dismissed and whose class has graduated. The Association's purposes are to represent the alumni/ae of Albany Law School, through activities of the School at the administrative level, and through the involvement of members of the Alumni Association in various School functions and where appropriate, to represent the interests of the alumni/ae body on the School's Board of Trustees through the Alumni/ae Trustees.Who is a Member of the National Alumni Association?
Every graduate of Albany Law School is a member of the National Alumni Association (NAA), which is comprised of an active and supportive body of alumni. The NAA is governed by a Board of Directors, and board committees serve the school in an advisory and networking capacity in areas such as career services, admissions recruitment and alumni involvement.
If you are interested in becoming involved with NAA activities, please explore the links on this webpage for more information or contact the Office of Alumni Engagement at 518-445-3206 or alumni@albanylaw.edu.