The following story originally appeared on the website for W&M Law School. – Ed.
William & Mary Law School presented the Marshall-Wythe Medallion, its highest honor, to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Feb. 20, 2026.
The medallion, awarded by the law school faculty, recognizes members of the legal community, from outstanding jurists to outstanding lawyers to outstanding legal scholars, who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishment in law.
Sotomayor joined a distinguished list of past recipients, including justices Elena Kagan; Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Sandra Day O’Connor, a former W&M Chancellor; Antonin Scalia L.L.D. ’91, P ’98, G ’17, G ’19; and Thurgood Marshall.
Dean A. Benjamin Spencer welcomed faculty to the William & Mary Alumni House for a dinner in Sotomayor’s honor. In his remarks, he praised her extraordinary breadth of service — from her early years as a federal prosecutor to her role as a trial and appellate judge, and ultimately as a justice of the Supreme Court.
“Justice Sotomayor has shaped the law across every dimension of her career,” Spencer said. “Her legacy is not only one of jurisprudence, but also of leadership and inspiration to future generations.”
Sotomayor then spent the evening with the law school community. During a post-dinner fireside chat for faculty and students in the Alumni House’s Hunter Hall, she answered questions from professors Allison Orr Larsen and Neal Devins and spoke candidly about her career, her work on the court and the importance of resilience, mentorship and service in the legal profession.
The presentation of the Marshall-Wythe Medallion marked a historic moment for W&M Law School, underscoring its mission to educate citizen lawyers who lead and serve at the highest levels.
The medallion is named for John Marshall and George Wythe. One of the leading statesmen of the Revolutionary Era, Wythe was William & Mary’s and the nation’s first professor of law. Marshall was among Wythe’s first students at the university and went on to have a seminal impact on American history as chief justice of the United States.