The 2025 cohort of the Texas Law Chancellors Society—a prestigious honor society with a storied history—was introduced and honored on Jan. 23, 2025. The 17 students were recognized as chancellors for earning the highest GPAs in their law school class, a tradition dating back to 1912.
Split evenly between Texas and non-Texas natives, this year’s chancellors hail from eight states. As undergraduates, they studied at a variety of academic institutions—Ivy League schools, state universities, and private liberal arts colleges—with a wide range of majors including mechanical engineering, political science, accounting, psychology, kinesiology, and English. The 2025 chancellors brought an eclectic mix of life experiences and backgrounds to law school, including two veterans of the armed forces, three first-generation college students, one transfer to Texas Law, several who worked full-time before starting their law school journeys, a student who speaks four languages, two former college athletes, and two others who studied abroad during college.
According to the original charter of the society, “The purpose of the order of chancellors is to honor, and reward by election, those law students who, by consistent scholarship, ability, and achievement have shown themselves likely to succeed and become a credit to their profession.”
At the ceremony, family members, friends, and Texas Law faculty members gathered to celebrate this year’s honorees in Townes Hall. Former Chancellor Rachel VanLandingham ’00, co-associate dean and professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, was this year’s guest speaker. A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, VanLandingham is the former president and director of the private nonprofit National Institute of Military Justice.
Law school leaders in attendance to recognize and support this year’s group of chancellors included Dean Bobby Chesney, Associate Dean Susan C. Morse, and Professor John Dzienkowski, who was a chancellor for the Class of 1983.
“Given the excellence of all of Texas Law students, this distinction is indeed prestigious, and reflects extraordinary commitment,” says Chesney. “I have no doubt that these 17 students will continue the great legacy of those who have come before them, as chancellors and as alumni of our great school.”
The chancellors with the highest GPAs are designated as officers for that year, with distinctive titles: grand chancellor, vice chancellor, clerk, and keeper of the peregrinus, respectively. The other 13 inductees hold the title of chancellors-at-large. This year, Hannah Claire Bottorff was named grand chancellor and Joshua McClain as vice chancellor.
“I’m honored to receive this award and grateful for the wonderful community God has surrounded me with these past few years,” says Bottorff. “My peers and professors at Texas Law have been incredibly supportive and have impressed me with their kindness, talent, and passion about the law.” After graduating in May, Bottorff will be clerking for Judge Priscilla Richman in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
McLain also appreciates the support of the Texas Law community. “I am deeply grateful for my friends, classmates, and professors, whose insights, curiosity, and generosity have enriched every class I have taken in law school,” he says. “I am particularly grateful for the community of public interest law students at Texas Law, who remind me every day of why the hard work of law school is meaningful.” McLain will remain in Austin after receiving his law degree to clerk for Judge Robert Pitman in the Western District of Texas.
The chancellors for the Class of 2025 are:
Grand Chancellor
Hannah Claire Bottorff, League City, Texas
Vice Chancellor
Joshua T. McClain, Durham, North Carolina
Clerk
Hannah Elizabeth Young, Dallas, Texas
Keeper of the Peregrinus
Eliot Schulte, Hopewell, New Jersey
Chancellors-at-Large
Katherine Bartos, Sugar Land, Texas
Daniel A. Fishbein, Northborough, Massachusetts
Milo Raymon Goodell, Saratoga Springs, New York
Karissa Lynn Leffingwell, Spring, Texas
Evan Miguel Long-Quian, Houston, Texas
Hailey Rae Loomis, Detroit, Michigan
Thomas Patrick McAuley, Houston, Texas
Nathaniel J. Morgan, Brighton, Michigan
Morgan Margaret Mosiman, Austin, Texas
Jessica Nesbit, Southlake, Texas
Lauren M. Radigan, Maspeth, New York
Sophia A. Skipper, New Orleans, Louisiana
Katherine Elizabeth Spry, Seattle, Washington