Dean Jean M. Gaspardo of Long Point and Chicago was awarded the St. Robert Bellarmine Award by the Loyola Law Alumni Association. She is assistant dean of students and law school programs for Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The award is presented to a graduate of Loyola who earned a juris doctor within the past 15 years. The recipient is recognized for distinguished service to the community, to the legal profession and for loyalty and service to the Loyola School of Law. Dean James Faught, associate dean for administration, introduced Gaspardo. Dean David Yellen, dean of the Loyola School of Law, presented the award.

Dean Jean, as she is affectionately known by her students, has directed the summer Study Law Abroad Program in Rome, Strasbourg, Nottingham, Oxford and most recently, Beijing. She also has assisted with programs in Tanzania, India, Thailand, South Africa and London. At Loyola, she counsels students and teaches courses in client counseling and negotiation. Under her direction, the law school moot court teams achieved repeated regional and national victories.

Gaspardo received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin and her Master of Business Administration and JD from Loyola University of Chicago. She is a Woodland High School graduate and member of the Woodland High School Education Foundation Hall of Fame. She also is a member of the American and Illinois Bar Associations, the executive board of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago, the Justinians Society of Lawyers and the Long Point American Legion Auxiliary.

The awards ceremony took place at the Univeristy Club of Chicago. Present to honor their sister were her siblings, Arlene Martell and Phyllis Kestner, both of Ancona, Fred and Jerry Gaspardo, both of Long Point, and Marilyn Bertch and Janet Marshall, both of Lutz, Fla.