The Squire Patton Boggs Foundation honored Fellowship alumna Meaghan Fitzgerald, Catholic Law Class of 2008, with the 2023 Distinguished Fellow Award during a recent virtual ceremony. Recipients are recognized for their commitment to justice and addressing the needs of the underrepresented.

An alumna of the Foundation’s 2007 Fellowship Class and a graduate of the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Ms. Fitzgerald serves as Head of the Election Department at OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) based in Warsaw, Poland. In addition to her various roles within ODIHR, which includes Deputy Head of Mission in Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Georgia, Ms. Fitzgerald previously served as Head of Mission for The Carter Center in Liberia, as an electoral and legal analyst in Myanmar, and helped organize the referendum in South Sudan while working for the United Nations.

"The Catholic Law community celebrates Meaghan’s selection as a 2023 Squire Patton Boggs Foundation Distinguished Fellow,” said Stephen C. Payne, dean of the Columbus School of Law. “Meaghan’s twenty-plus-year career protecting the integrity of elections in Eastern Europe is a model for how a law degree can be harnessed to serve communities around the world. We’re grateful to the Foundation for their nurturing of Meaghan’s studies when she was selected as Catholic University’s first-ever Squire Patton Boggs Foundation Public Policy Fellow in 2007. This important investment in Meaghan’s education helped deepen her understanding of international human rights law, equipping her with the tools necessary for a far-reaching career defending international democratic governance. We are incredibly proud of Meaghan’s work and congratulate her on this latest achievement.” 

"I am truly honored to receive this recognition from the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation,” said Ms. Fitzgerald. “The Foundation’s roots in service and promoting best efforts to give back in a meaningful way to the communities where we live and practice helped me see how I could use my legal education towards this goal.”

The full press release can be seen here.