The Kate Stoneman Visiting Professorship at Albany Law School celebrates Kate Stoneman's extraordinary achievements, ensuring that her contributions to society are recognized and continued, and to instruct and inspire new generations of students in law and democracy. The Kate Stoneman Visiting Professorship was originally established to bring distinguished visiting professors to Albany Law School.
In 2007, Albany Law School named Katheryn D. Katz '70 the first Kate Stoneman Chair in Law and Democracy. Professor Katz taught in the areas of constitutional law, family law, children in the law and women in the law. She has published more than 30 articles and book chapters around family law and constitutional law. Her research and publication interests include reproductive rights of minors, cloning and embryo donation.
Before joining the Albany Law School faculty, Katz was an assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and engaged in private practice in Albany. She was the founding partner of Powers & Katz, one of the first female law firms in upstate New York. In 1975, Katz was the second female faculty member hired by Albany Law School. Katz received an A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from Albany Law School.​​​​​ Professor Katz retire​d in 2009, and passed away in 2012.
Professor Mary A. Lynch was appointed the Kate Stoneman Chair in Law and Democracy in 2016. Professor Lynch is the director of the Center for Excellence in Law Teaching, editor of the award-winning blog "Best Practices for Legal Education," and serves on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Experiential Learning. As director of Albany Law School's Domestic Violence Prosecution Hybrid Clinic, she supervises students working in Special Victims Units and domestic violence courts throughout the Capital Region.