Medal for Excellence Awarded to Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ’53 and Roberta A. Kaplan ’91
Honorees Selected for Exemplary Qualities of Character, Intellect, and Social and Professional Responsibility
![2015 Medal for Excellence recipients Roberta A. Kaplan '91 and U.S. Senior District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum ’53 with Dean Gillian Lester, right](/sites/default/files/styles/1220x700/public/2021-02/20150227_winterluncheon_365_crop.jpg?h=547de1d1&itok=laEoMsgF)
Cedarbaum, who has served on the bench in the Southern District of New York for 29 years, said the Law School helped guide her career path and professional development.
Kaplan, a powerhouse litigator known for winning the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that banned recognition of same-sex marriages, was welcomed to the stage after a warm introduction from her longtime friend McMahon, a mentor and fellow Ohioan.
Kaplan said Columbia Law School helped her fulfill a dream of becoming a New York attorney. She said she hoped her 2013 representation of lesbian Edith Windsor in the DOMA case would help people fight off any cynicism toward the law.