Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients
Eriq La Salle
Actor/director/producer Eriq La Salle is best known to worldwide television audiences for his award-winning portrayal of the commanding Dr. Peter Benton on the critically acclaimed and history-making medical drama ER. Educated at Juilliard and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, his credits range from Broadway to film roles opposite Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, Robin Williams in One Hour Photo, and Hugh Jackman in Logan. La Salle has maintained a prolific acting career while at the same time working steadily as a director, taking the helm for HBO, Showtime, NBC, Fox, and CBS. He remains a valued member of the Dick Wolf Entertainment camp after four years as executive producer and director on Chicago PD in addition to directing episodes of Law & Order, and Law and Order Organized Crime. As a writer, La Salle is the author of several critically acclaimed thrillers published in 2022 and 2023, Laws of Depravity, Laws of Wrath, and Laws of Annihilation. He has also written an episode of The Twilight Zone, which made Writers Guild of America’s list of 101 Best Written TV Series.
Martha Stone
Martha Stone is the founder and executive director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA), a non-profit legal office representing at-risk children and youth. Prior to founding CCA in 1997, she served as associate director of Children’s Rights, Inc., a national organization engaged in foster care litigation throughout the United States. For 18 years previously, she was legal director of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union. Stone is responsible for bringing class action lawsuits resulting in consent decrees involving DCF (Juan F.), Connecticut juvenile detention centers, and access to community-based mental health services for the juvenile justice population (Emily J.). She is lead counsel for the plaintiffs in Sheff v. O’Neill, the Hartford school desegregation case. She is an adjunct professor at the UConn School of Law, where she teaches a course in child advocacy. She is the recipient of many awards for distinguished service including the Gault Guardian Award, Division of Public Defender Services; Community Partner Award, Capitol Region Education Council; NAACP Wilber G. Smith Award, Excellence in Civil Rights Advocacy Award; Connecticut Bar Association Charles Parker Legal Services Award, Bank of America Local Hero Award; Champion of Children Award from the Village for Families and Children. She was named to the “Fifty Most Influential” List in Hartford Magazine. She received a JD and LLM from Georgetown University Law Center.
Elizabeth Horton Sheff
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Alex Knopp
Attorney Alex Knopp served Norwalk in elective office from 1983 to 2005 as city councilman, state representative and mayor. After a term as executive director of the Yale Center for Social Justice at Dwight Hall, he was appointed plaintiffs’ representative in the landmark Connecticut school desegregation case of Sheff v. O’Neill in 2012. He taught for 12 years as an adjunct clinical lecturer in Yale Law School until 2019 and recently completed seven years as president of the Norwalk Public Library. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1969 magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors and was the 1981 class valedictorian of the George Washington University Law School. He served as chair of the Connecticut Advisory Board of the United States Civil Rights Commission and currently is a member of the Connecticut Law Tribune editorial board, the Common Cause of Connecticut advisory board, and the Connecticut Retirement Security Program advisory board.
Henry M. Zachs
Henry M. Zachs is an entrepreneur in the classic sense, and he truly made his mark in the wireless industry. In 1960, he was one of the first applicants for mobile telephone spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission in Hartford, Connecticut. He was chairman and founder of Message Center Beepers, which was sold to Vodaphone/Air Touch. He was one of 11 founders of Cellular One in NYC, and has worked in several areas of communications including paging, cellular, wireless, and the internet (Ziplink, Inc.). Zachs promoted the idea that indigenous tribes should receive a preference and arranged for 10 tribes to file for cellular, before the preference was allowed for casinos. He is the founder of Endow Hartford 21, an endowment matching program that has helped more than 60 local non-profits in the Greater Hartford area build endowments for the long-term health of their organizations. His philanthropy doesn’t stop there: he has been involved as a trustee, advisor and/or board member, and donor to numerous organizations including Williston-Northampton School, Trinity College, Watkinson Library, Trinity Hillel, UConn Hillel, Connecticut College Hillel, University of Hartford Hillel, Greenberg Center, United Way, Jewish Community Foundation, Jewish Federation, Wadsworth Atheneum, The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts, Oak Hill, Solomon Schechter School, and many others. Zachs has a B.A. from Trinity and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Student Speaker: Armanie Dutes
Armanie Dutes enrolled at Goodwin University in 2019 with the hopes of pursuing a nursing career. Through her time as a student, she experienced many setbacks, including the loss of family members as well as a personal battle with cancer. Despite these challenges, she continued to pursue her education and demonstrate her dedication and potential in the classroom, raising her GPA above a 3.0.
Outside of the classroom, Armanie pursued employment in the healthcare field, working with patients and physicians in different specialties. Armanie will be continuing her education as a nursing student at Goodwin University in hopes of working alongside oncology patients. Her goal is to inspire, encourage, and aid these men and women on their journey just as her own physician and nurses did for her.
Eriq La Salle
Actor/director/producer Eriq La Salle is best known to worldwide television audiences for his award-winning portrayal of the commanding Dr. Peter Benton on the critically acclaimed and history-making medical drama ER. Educated at Juilliard and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, his credits range from Broadway to film roles opposite Eddie Murphy in Coming to America, Robin Williams in One Hour Photo, and Hugh Jackman in Logan. La Salle has maintained a prolific acting career while at the same time working steadily as a director, taking the helm for HBO, Showtime, NBC, Fox, and CBS. He remains a valued member of the Dick Wolf Entertainment camp after four years as executive producer and director on Chicago PD in addition to directing episodes of Law & Order, and Law and Order Organized Crime. As a writer, La Salle is the author of several critically acclaimed thrillers published in 2022 and 2023, Laws of Depravity, Laws of Wrath, and Laws of Annihilation. He has also written an episode of The Twilight Zone, which made Writers Guild of America’s list of 101 Best Written TV Series.
Martha Stone
Martha Stone is the founder and executive director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA), a non-profit legal office representing at-risk children and youth. Prior to founding CCA in 1997, she served as associate director of Children’s Rights, Inc., a national organization engaged in foster care litigation throughout the United States. For 18 years previously, she was legal director of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union. Stone is responsible for bringing class action lawsuits resulting in consent decrees involving DCF (Juan F.), Connecticut juvenile detention centers, and access to community-based mental health services for the juvenile justice population (Emily J.). She is lead counsel for the plaintiffs in Sheff v. O’Neill, the Hartford school desegregation case. She is an adjunct professor at the UConn School of Law, where she teaches a course in child advocacy. She is the recipient of many awards for distinguished service including the Gault Guardian Award, Division of Public Defender Services; Community Partner Award, Capitol Region Education Council; NAACP Wilber G. Smith Award, Excellence in Civil Rights Advocacy Award; Connecticut Bar Association Charles Parker Legal Services Award, Bank of America Local Hero Award; Champion of Children Award from the Village for Families and Children. She was named to the “Fifty Most Influential” List in Hartford Magazine. She received a JD and LLM from Georgetown University Law Center.
Elizabeth Horton Sheff
Elizabeth Horton Sheff is a justice seeker. Throughout her years of community activism, she has advocated on many civil rights fronts, including championing the rights of persons who reside in public housing; those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS; families marginalized by economic challenges; and grandparents raising grandchildren. Horton Sheff is also known for her role as named plaintiff of Sheff vs. O’Neill, the successful landmark civil rights lawsuit, with a mandate to provide equal access to quality, integrated public education in Connecticut. She served on the City of Hartford, Court of Common Council from 1991 to 1995 and 1999 to 2001. During her tenure there, Horton Sheff initiated the “Campaign for Civic Pride,” which increased citizen access to and participation on city boards and commissions; promoted jobs and wealth building opportunities for Hartford residents and businesses in city assisted projects; created and led the city-wide literary effort “Keep Them Reading” campaign; encouraged community policing through strengthening the city’s Civilian Police Review Board; and hosted “Community Council,” a monthly public access television show through which she kept Hartford residents informed of resources available and happenings. Horton Sheff is a trained licensed nurse and a graduate of the Hartford Seminary Black Ministries Certificate Program. She holds associate and bachelor’s degrees from Charter Oak State College, and a Master’s of Education, Educational Technology degree, from the University of Hartford. She is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including a Doctorate of Humane Letters granted by the University of Hartford in 2013.
Alex Knopp
Attorney Alex Knopp served Norwalk in elective office from 1983 to 2005 as city councilman, state representative and mayor. After a term as executive director of the Yale Center for Social Justice at Dwight Hall, he was appointed plaintiffs’ representative in the landmark Connecticut school desegregation case of Sheff v. O’Neill in 2012. He taught for 12 years as an adjunct clinical lecturer in Yale Law School until 2019 and recently completed seven years as president of the Norwalk Public Library. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1969 magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors and was the 1981 class valedictorian of the George Washington University Law School. He served as chair of the Connecticut Advisory Board of the United States Civil Rights Commission and currently is a member of the Connecticut Law Tribune editorial board, the Common Cause of Connecticut advisory board, and the Connecticut Retirement Security Program advisory board.
Henry M. Zachs
Henry M. Zachs is an entrepreneur in the classic sense, and he truly made his mark in the wireless industry. In 1960, he was one of the first applicants for mobile telephone spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission in Hartford, Connecticut. He was chairman and founder of Message Center Beepers, which was sold to Vodaphone/Air Touch. He was one of 11 founders of Cellular One in NYC, and has worked in several areas of communications including paging, cellular, wireless, and the internet (Ziplink, Inc.). Zachs promoted the idea that indigenous tribes should receive a preference and arranged for 10 tribes to file for cellular, before the preference was allowed for casinos. He is the founder of Endow Hartford 21, an endowment matching program that has helped more than 60 local non-profits in the Greater Hartford area build endowments for the long-term health of their organizations. His philanthropy doesn’t stop there: he has been involved as a trustee, advisor and/or board member, and donor to numerous organizations including Williston-Northampton School, Trinity College, Watkinson Library, Trinity Hillel, UConn Hillel, Connecticut College Hillel, University of Hartford Hillel, Greenberg Center, United Way, Jewish Community Foundation, Jewish Federation, Wadsworth Atheneum, The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts, Oak Hill, Solomon Schechter School, and many others. Zachs has a B.A. from Trinity and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Student Speaker: Armanie Dutes
Armanie Dutes enrolled at Goodwin University in 2019 with the hopes of pursuing a nursing career. Through her time as a student, she experienced many setbacks, including the loss of family members as well as a personal battle with cancer. Despite these challenges, she continued to pursue her education and demonstrate her dedication and potential in the classroom, raising her GPA above a 3.0.
Outside of the classroom, Armanie pursued employment in the healthcare field, working with patients and physicians in different specialties. Armanie will be continuing her education as a nursing student at Goodwin University in hopes of working alongside oncology patients. Her goal is to inspire, encourage, and aid these men and women on their journey just as her own physician and nurses did for her.
