As an alumnus and a member of the Brooklyn legal community for nearly forty years, I take note of the enlightened leadership that Dean Nicholas W. Allard has demonstrated in his six years at the helm of Brooklyn Law School.

Nick's tenure at Brooklyn Law School will be fondly remembered for years to come due to his commitment to making the school a highly attractive destination for brilliant young minds and giving those students a strong path to success. In his time at the school, Dean Allard spearheaded progressive initiatives such as an accelerated two-year J.D. program that allows top students to enter the work place earlier; the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship, which provides students with the unique opportunity to graduate with an Entrepreneurship Certificate as they enter the business world; the Bridge to Success program, financially assisting recent graduates as they transition from students to attorneys; and international programs in Italy, Germany, and China. Nick has participated in a multitude of activities of various bar associations in Brooklyn and has endeared himself to the attorneys and the judiciary in the community.

With a distinguished education at such prestigious institutions as Princeton University, Yale Law School, and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, as well as time working for United States Senators Edward Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Nick Allard was highly qualified for his role as Dean and exceeded all expectations. His forward-thinking programs will certainly be regarded as ahead of their time, and he will surely be missed by the many students whose lives and careers he has positively affected. Nick enhanced the reputation of the law school, the alumni and the student body.

The Brooklyn legal community wishes him the best in the future. I look forward to seeing the effect his initiatives will have going forward.

John M. Leventhal is an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Second Department. He is a 1979 graduate of Brooklyn Law School.