Chase Recognizes Four Alumni with Special Awards

As in a galaxy of twinkling stars, the accomplishments of four outstanding graduates of Salmon P. Chase College of Law are shining a little brighter with the glow of Distinguished Alumni Awards the college conferred this autumn.

In recognition of their achievements that reflect the spirit of Chase graduates in professional, community and college service, the college this past October 4 presented awards during its annual alumni luncheon at the Hilton Netherland Plaza hotel Hall of Mirrors in downtown Cincinnati to:

• Supreme Court of Kentucky Justice Robert Conley, Class of 1984, Distinguished Alumnus Award.

• Stephanie Scott, Class of 2017, assistant general counsel of Cincinnati Public Schools, Distinguished Alumna Award.

• Mary Talbott, Class of 1995, chief legal officer of altafiber, Distinguished Alumna Award.

• David Wolf, Class of 1965, founding partner of Community Management Corp. and philanthropist, Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The four join more than 120 alumni the college has recognized with previous annual awards, in class years ranging from 1934 to 2017.

Justice Conley was elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky from the Seventh Supreme Court District of 32 Eastern Kentucky counties in November 2020. He had been a trial court judge in Greenup and Lewis counties for 26 years.

Justice Conley was appointed to a District Court vacancy in 1994 and was subsequently elected to three consecutive terms. In 2006, he won his first election to the Circuit Court, where he served until his election to the Supreme Court. As a Circuit Court judge, he presided over the consolidated Drug Court for Greenup and Lewis counties, which the National Drug Court Institute recognized in 2010 as a “mentor court” to help train drug court personnel across the eastern United States.

Prior to his judicial service, Justice Conley practiced in the law firm of McKenzie, Woolery & Emrick, in Ashland, Kentucky, was corporate attorney for Addington Mining/Addington Environmental and was an attorney for the Greenup County Board of Education.

Ms. Scott is assistant general counsel of one of the three largest school districts in Ohio, based on enrollment. Prior to her career move to the public sector, she was an associate in the Cincinnati law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl.

Her involvement in the legal community includes being a member of Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati and serving as the banquet committee chair to raise funds for minority law student scholarships, and being program chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association Women Lawyers Section and a member of the Diversity Committee. In 2021, she received the Cincinnati Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Professional Award and in 2018, the Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio Rising Star Award.

In the community, she is chair of the Campbell County (Kentucky) YMCA Advisory Board, administrative pastor of fellowship of Church of God in Covington, Kentucky. She has served on the steering committee for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Regional Leadership Program.  

Ms. Talbott is both chief legal officer and a member of senior management involved in developing and implementing strategic objectives for altafiber, the Cincinnati-based telephone, internet and television provider previously known as Cincinnati Bell. As chief legal officer, she is responsible for legal, regulatory and governmental matters.

She previously held executive positions in Greater Cincinnati Fortune 500 companies Scripps Networks, Macy’s and General Cable, and worked in private equity organizations. Prior to her corporate legal career, she practiced as a litigator for five years. 

In the community and in the telecommunications sector, she serves on boards of the Cincinnati Ballet, Camp Joy and United States Telecom Association. Her previous board memberships include Ion Center (formerly Women’s Crisis Center) and Reset Ministries. She has been a parent representative on the Fort Thomas (Kentucky) Independent Schools Site Based Counsel, a judge in the Northern Kentucky Teen Court program. She is a lifetime member of the FBI Cincinnati Citizens Academy Alumni Association. 

Mr. Wolf was admitted to practice in Ohio and embarked on a now nearly 60-year career in real estate development and ownership of apartment communities, office buildings, shopping centers and other low-rise buildings in Greater Cincinnati.

Throughout his business career, with his wife Nancy, he has supported an array of educational, artistic, medical and religious endeavors. 

In 2022, Mr. and Mrs. Wolf endowed the David and Nancy Wolf Chair in Ethics and Professional Identity at Chase to provide students with opportunities for involvement in matters of ethics, professionalism, social justice, public service, and in understanding diversity, inclusivity and personal well-being. 

The Wolfs’ philanthropic impact is broadly evident in Cincinnati, as benefactors of the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center at the Cincinnati Museum Center, the Nancy and David Wolf Gallery of the Cincinnati Art Museum, which displays artworks they donated, and programs in Cincinnati Public Schools, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the Jewish Community Center.

All four recipients ‒ in the constellation of Chase graduates in which the Distinguished Alumni Awards shine brightly for what it means to be a Chase graduate ­‒ are actively involved with the college, including mentoring students, speaking at programs and
participating in special events.