Post date: June 22, 2003
Harvard Law School has awarded the 2003 Fay Diploma to Michael Shah of Brookville, New York. The Fay Diploma is awarded each year to the graduating J.D. student with the highest combined grade point average for three years of study at the law school.
Shah had previously won the Sears Prize, awarded to students with the highest average in an individual year, after both his first and second year at the law school.
“I was very excited to win the Fay Diploma, not just because it’s a wonderful reward for my efforts in law school, but also because it is very satisfying to bring the award to the growing South Asian legal community,” said Shah. “It was somewhat of a relief when I heard the announcement, because there were a lot of expectations after the Sears Prizes.”
A 1999 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College with a degree in chemistry, Shah also holds a master’s degree in finance and economics from the London School of Economics. Shah has an accepted a position at the law firm of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz in New York City.
The Fay Diploma was established in 1907 by an anonymous gift and it was first awarded in 1909. Among those that have been honored with the Fay Diploma are Senator Robert A. Taft, Judge Henry J. Friendly, and Harvard Law School Dean Erwin Griswold.