School of Law Alumni Association Honors Outstanding Alumni and Faculty on April 26

Akron, Ohio, April 19, 2007 - The University of Akron School of Law Alumni Association will honor four outstanding alumni and two faculty members at its annual Alumni Awards Dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26 in the Student Union Ballroom.

The honorees were chosen for their achievements in the legal profession and their communities.

The 2007 Outstanding Alumni Award honorees are Anthony J. Alexander ('75), president & CEO of FirstEnergy Corp., Akron, Ohio; Nickolas P. Andreeff ('60) of Brennan, Manna & Diamond LLC, Akron, Ohio; Shirley H. Buccieri ('83) of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Palo Alto, Calif.; and The Honorable Linda Tucci Teodosio ('82), Summit County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division.

David Benjamin, part-time faculty member, will receive The John R. Quine Award as the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member; and Wilson R. Huhn, C. Blake McDowell Jr. Professor, will receive the Thomas G. Byers Memorial Award for Outstanding Faculty Publication. Benjamin teaches Land Use Planning, as well as Local Government. Huhn teaches courses in Constitutional Law, Commercial Law, Law and Genetics, Health Law and Evidence.

Anthony J. Alexander began his career in 1972 in the Tax Department of Ohio Edison, which merged in 1997 with Centerior Energy to form FirstEnergy. He joined Ohio Edison's Legal Department as an attorney in 1976, was named senior attorney in 1984, and promoted to associate general counsel in 1987. He was elected vice president and general counsel in 1989; senior vice president and general counsel in 1991; and executive vice president and general counsel in 1996. In 1997, he was elected executive vice president and general counsel of FirstEnergy and elected president in 2000. He was elected president and chief operating officer in 2001 and to his current position in January 2004. He also is a member of the company's Board of Directors.

Alexander also received his bachelor of science degree in accounting from The University of Akron. He completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Business, and the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a recipient of UA's Dr. Frank L. Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award.

He is a member of the boards of the Edison Electric Institute, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the Ohio Electric Utility Institute, and the Ohio Business Roundtable. He also is a member of the boards of trustees of Akron Tomorrow and the Greater Akron Chamber.

Nickolas P. Andreeff is Of Counsel for Brennan, Manna & Diamond, LLC, where his practice focuses on business and corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing, and labor and employment matters. Prior to joining the firm, he was president of Amer Cunningham & Brennan Co., LPA in Akron, where he was a member from 1972-2000. He also served as corporate secretary and general counsel of Alside Inc., a former subsidiary of U.S. Steel Corp.

Andreeff received his bachelor of arts degree from The University of Akron and his master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University.

His professional and civic involvement includes serving as president of the Akron Bar Association and as chair to Akron Bar committees such as Scholarship and Building and Facilities. He served on the boards of trustees for the Akron Bar, the Akron Legal News, the Akron Bar Foundation, and the National Conference of Bar Foundations. He is a past president of Akron Regional Development Board (now called Greater Akron Chamber) and past chairman of Akron's Private Industry Council.

A charter member of the Edwin Shaw Hospital Development Foundation, Andreeff has served as chairman for the past 13 years.

Shirley H. Buccieri became a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Palo Alto office in 2005, and is a member of the firm's Corporate Transactions Practice Group. She practiced with Gibson Dunn from 1983-95 before joining Transamerica Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco, as general counsel. She also headed the Transamerica Foundation, overseeing grants to deserving non-profit organizations nationwide. In 1999, she was a critical part of the management team that negotiated the multi-billion dollar sale of Transamerica to Aegon, N.V., a Dutch insurance conglomerate.

After the sale, she founded Willow Place Partners, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based corporate advisory firm, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. From 1973-83, she held various technical and management positions at General Motors Corp.

Buccieri was named one of the top general counsels by Corporate Counsel magazine; has been selected as one of the top women in business in San Francisco; and was included in the publication, "Going to the Top, a Road Map for Success from America's Leading Women Executives." She received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Purdue University and is a member of Purdue University's Dean's Leadership Council.

The Honorable Linda Tucci Teodosio serves as judge of the Juvenile Division for the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. Previously, she served as judge of the Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court and as magistrate and referee for the Akron Municipal Court.

In addition to working in the private practice of law for nearly 16 years, she was employed as a staff attorney for the Ninth District (Ohio) Court of Appeals.

A past president of the UA Law Alumni Association, Teodosio also received her bachelor of science degree from The University of Akron. She has served as president of the Akron Bar Association Foundation and has been nominated as president-elect of the Akron Bar Association for 2007-08. She serves on the Summit Forum and the boards for the Akron Summit Community Action Inc. and the First Friday Club of Greater Akron. She is an Advisory Board Member for the Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Psychiatric Intake Response Unit and serves on the Summit County Criminal Justice Advisory Board.

Her recent honors include the Ohio Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Friend of the Family Award, the Alpha Gamma Delta International Fraternity Distinguished Citizen Award, and the Italian American Council of Summit County Achievement Award.

The University of Akron School of Law commemorates 85 years of promoting justice, the protection of individual liberty and the rule of law through commitment to excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. To learn more, visit www.uakron.edu/law.

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