The Honorable Rebeca Carrillo Martinez (’92, Hon.’25) and Dr. Clarence B. Jones (’59) Receive 2025 Best of BU Distinguished Alumni Awards
Boston University School of Law is thrilled to congratulate the Honorable Rebeca Carrillo Martinez (LAW’92, Hon.’25) and Dr. Clarence B. Jones (’59) on each receiving a 2025 Best of BU Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Boston University Alumni Association (BUAA) gives these annual awards in recognition of exceptional leadership in the alumni’s respective field. The Distinguished Alumni Awards and Young Alumni Award are the highest honors bestowed upon alumni by the University.
“Boston University School of Law is immensely proud of Dr. Clarence B. Jones and Chief Justice Rebeca Carrillo Martinez, whose careers exemplify the best of our alumni’s contributions to law and justice,” shares Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig. “Their leadership and dedication serve as enduring inspirations to our community. Alumni like Dr. Jones and Chief Justice Martinez are the heart of BU Law, advancing the profession and strengthening our mission to educate and empower future generations. We congratulate them on receiving the 2025 Best of BU Distinguished Alumni Awards and honor their achievements.”
BU recognized Judge Martinez for her work as chief justice of the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals, which became the first appellate court in the nation with an all-women bench in 2005, remained that way until 2015, and was again an all-women bench from 2016 to 2025. The Chief Justice’s Best of BU Award follows a lifetime full of honors and awards, including receiving the American Judges Association’s Harold V. Froelich Award for Judicial Courage in 2023 and being named “Judge of the Year” by the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section in 2021. This past May, she also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Boston University at the All-University Commencement. She currently chairs the State Bar of Texas Judicial Section and serves on the BU Law Dean’s Advisory Board.
Dr. Jones received the award in honor of his contributions as a civil rights leader; accomplished lawyer; and personal attorney, political advisor, and draft speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59). Dr. Jones is well-known for having written the first draft of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for the 1963 March on Washington, helping to disseminate the handwritten pages of Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while Dr. King was imprisoned, and being the first African American named an allied member of the New York Stock Exchange. In 2024, Dr. Jones was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, by President Joe Biden.
The 77th Best of BU Alumni Awards were presented as part of Alumni Weekend celebrations. In announcing this year’s honorees, BUAA shared, “From producing beloved films and shaping the civil rights movement to advancing justice and spearheading innovations in technology and medicine, the 2025 honorees exemplify the spirit and excellence of Boston University.”