Drake University Law School Announces 2026 Alumni Award Recipients

Thursday, March 12th, 2026

Drake University Law School is proud to announce this year’s alumni award honorees. Jim Carney, JD’75, will receive the Alumni of the Year Award; Maggie Ferrentino, JD’13, the Recent Alumni of the Year Award; and Robert Andeweg, JD’87, the Distinguished Public Service Award. The honorees will be recognized at the 89th Annual Supreme Court Celebration Banquet on March 28. Visit the Supreme Court Celebration events page for more information.

Each year, alumni, faculty and staff nominate individuals for alumni awards. Law School Board of Counselors and Recent Alumni Engagement Board members consider all nominations and vote to determine who will receive the annual honors.

Alumni of the Year

Jim Carney, JD’75

The Alumni of the Year award recognizes Drake Law School alumni who have demonstrated outstanding service to the legal profession, the community, and the Law School.

Jim Carney is from Centerville, Iowa and graduated from Centerville High School. He then attended the University of Iowa on an athletic scholarship. After graduating from the University of Iowa, he was drafted during the Vietnam War. As a draftee, Jim coached golf and basketball for two years at West Point, the United States Military Academy. He coached West Point cadets as his military duty.

After Jim completed his duty in the Army, he had an opportunity to enroll in the Conditional Admission Program at Drake University Law School. He was successful in completing the conditional program and was admitted to Drake Law School. Jim will tell you that this is one of the most significant events and accomplishments in his whole life. He was going to go to law school to see if he liked it. If he had not, he would have tried the pro-tour or he would have gone into coaching.

He graduated from Drake Law School in 1975 and was briefly at a law firm, Buck & Isaacson, whose senior partner was unfortunately killed in an automobile accident. The next year he started his own firm at Carney, Hudson & Williams. He has practiced in Des Moines, Iowa, for 51 years and is heavily engaged in lobbying. In addition to representing the Iowa State Bar Association for 51 years, he and his firm represent over 35 clients in the Iowa Legislature. His firm is now Carney & Appleby.

On top of his legislative work, he has a very active trial practice. Jim is a member of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers and is a past president of the Iowa section of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Recent Alumni of the Year

Maggie Ferrentino, JD’13

The Recent Alumni of the Year award recognizes Drake Law School alumni who have graduated in the past 15 years, have seen a high level of professional success early in their careers, and have made an impact on the community through public service.

Maggie Ferrentino (she/her) is Associate General Counsel at EMC Insurance, where she practices employment, corporate, and life insurance law. She previously litigated employment cases for two Des Moines area law firms and worked as a teacher and administrator at a Montessori school in Kansas City for four years between college and law school.

Maggie earned her B.A. in Law, Politics, & Society from Drake University in 2006 and her JD from Drake Law School in 2013. While in law school, she served on the junior staff and editorial board of the Drake Law Review, competed on the Client Counseling team, worked as a research assistant to Professor Laurie Dore, was a student member of the C. Edwin Moore American Inn of Court, and was active in numerous student organizations, including Drake Law Women, Drake Law Democrats, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and Delta Theta Phi.

She has remained involved as a proud Drake alum by serving on the Drake University College of Arts & Sciences National Advisory Council and the Drake Law School Board of Counselors and by founding and serving as inaugural president of the Drake Law School Recent Alumni Engagement Board. She is the past president of the Iowa State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the Please Pass the Love Board of Directors, the Polk County Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Board, and has been a board member or volunteer with the Des Moines Public Library, Junior League of Des Moines, Friends of Planned Parenthood, and Girls on the Run. She was named to the Business Record’s 2017 Forty Under 40 class.

Distinguished Public Service Award

Robert Andeweg, JD’87

The Distinguished Public Service Award recognizes Drake Law School alumni who have engaged in exemplary service to the community and demonstrated commitment to public service over the course of their careers.

A native of Pella, Iowa, Robert “Bob” Andeweg earned his B.A. in political science and economics from Central College in 1984, and his J.D., with honors, from Drake University Law School in 1987, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Drake Law Review.

Bob is a shareholder at Nyemaster Goode, P.C. in Des Moines, where his practice focuses on business, finance and real estate, government affairs, and municipal law. He represents clients before the Iowa Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and state regulatory agencies, and has been consistently recognized for professional excellence, including designation in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA.

In 2005, he was elected Mayor of Urbandale, Iowa, after previously serving on the Urbandale Planning and Zoning Commission and city council. Last November, he was elected to his sixth term as mayor. During his tenure, he has helped guide the city through sustained growth, regional collaboration, and long-range planning initiatives that have strengthened not only Urbandale, but the entire metropolitan community. His leadership reflects a steady commitment to civility, intergovernmental collaboration, bipartisan cooperation, and principled governance.

In addition to his municipal service, Bob has served on and chaired numerous regional boards and civic organizations, contributing to economic development, metropolitan planning, and cultural advancement across Greater Des Moines. He is a graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and Leadership Iowa, and a member of the Des Moines Business Record’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2002, later recognized as the Forty Under 40 Alumnus of the Year in 2017. He has also been named Urbandale Citizen of the Year and is a member of the Urbandale Chamber Hall of Fame.