Justice Karla Turkheimer Moskowitz, a 1963 alumna of Alfred University, will deliver the address at AU’s commencement, scheduled for 10 a.m. May 17 in McLane Center.

“As a justice in the Appellate Division, First Department, as a community member, and as a woman who mentors young people, generously sharing her wisdom and experience with them, Karla Moskowitz is a credit to her alma mater,” said Alfred University President Charles M. Edmondson. “We are delighted she agreed to be our commencement speaker this year.”

The University will confer an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Moskowitz.

In 2004, Moskowitz received the Abigail Allen Award, presented annually to an alumna for her “distinctive career achievements, community service and avocational pursuits that have improved the quality of women’s lives.” In 2006, in recognition of her high attainment in liberal arts scholarship, she was inducted in the Alfred University chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Moskowitz was a Women of Influence speaker at the Women’s Leadership Center at AU in 2006, and she hosted an AU delegation of 17 students for first-hand visit to the Supreme Court. Additionally, Alfred University students have completed internships under her guidance.

Moskowitz was appointed to the Appellate Division, First Department, in January of this year. She has served as a judge since 1982 when she was elected as a judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York. In 1987, she was appointed an acting Supreme Court justice, and won election to the Supreme Court in 1991 and in 2005.

During her 18 years on the Supreme Court, she served as a trial judge on the civil side, sitting n a Medical Malpractice Part from 1992 to 2001 and in the Commercial Division from 2001 until her elevation in January to the Appellate Division.

A 1966 graduate of Columbia Law School, Moskowitz served in the State Attorney General’s office, in the New York City Human Resources Administration, as a hearing officer for the New York City Board of Education, a member of the Criminal 18-B Appeal Panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, an arbitrator for the Small Claims Division of the Civil Court, an attorney in private practice and as an administrative law judge for the New York State Department of Health.

She is a past president of the New York Women’s Bar Association, the New York State Association of Women Judges and National Association of Women Judges. She is also a founder and past president of the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert. She was co-chair of the Summary Jury Trials Committee of the Jury Trial Project of the New York State Courts from 2003-2005.

She is a charter member of the American College of Business Court Judges and sits on the executive committee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. She has also served as a director and on different committees of various bar and judicial associations.

Moskowitz received the Jurist of the Year Award as a Commercial Division Justice from the Metropolitan Black Bar Association in 2005; the Edith Spivak Award of the Women’s Rights Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association in 2003; the New York County Lawyers Association Award for Distinguished Service as a Justice of the Commercial Division in 2001; the Founder’s Award of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York in 1999; the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service in 1997; and the Women of Valor Award of the Women’s Medical Association of New York City in 1995.

She is also a frequent lecturer on topics including civility in the courtroom, commercial litigation, and women’s issues.