The Diane F. Bosse Award for Excellence and Service in Bar Admissions was established in 2024 to honor a bar examiner who emulates the ideals that Diane embodied—leadership, vision, integrity, and extraordinary service in bar admissions—to enshrine Diane’s legacy and commitment to service in our community, and to inspire a new generation of bar examiners. The award is given to a state bar examiner or board member who demonstrates leadership, integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to serving the legal profession through bar admissions in their own jurisdiction and beyond to help ensure a competent, ethical, and diverse legal profession.
Diane F. Bosse was appointed by the Court of Appeals to the New York Board of Law Examiners in 1998, after having served for 19 years as an assistant to the Board, and served as chair of the Board from 2001 to 2020. She was a member of NCBE’s Board of Trustees from 1999 to 2008 and served as its chair from 2006 to 2007. In addition to her service in New York and on NCBE’s Board, Diane served on numerous NCBE committees, including as a member of the Testing Task Force and Implementation Steering Committee for the NextGen bar exam. She played a significant role in laying the groundwork for adding Civil Procedure to the Multistate Bar Examination and was instrumental in envisioning the Uniform Bar Exam, which has resulted in score portability for over 60,000 newly licensed lawyers.
Diane’s decades of hard work and dedication to bar admissions and legal education have had a profound impact on thousands of lawyers, law students, and the profession itself. Her service to the betterment of American lawyer licensing is an inspiration to us all.
Past Honorees
2026 Honoree: Judge Henry A. Alaniz (New Mexico)
Judge Henry A. Alaniz was a member of the State Bar of New Mexico’s Board of Bar Commissioners for nine years and served as its President in 2008. He was a judge at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court from 2011 to 2021, during which time he also served on numerous committees, including the judiciary’s budget committee. He was the Metropolitan Court’s Chief Judge from 2014 to 2018. He has been a member of the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners since 2010, including service on multiple board committees, and has been Board Chair since 2022.
Judge Alaniz has been deeply involved in the evolution of the New Mexico bar examination over the years, including during New Mexico’s transition from a state-specific exam to the Uniform Bar Exam in 2016 and its adoption of the NextGen UBE in 2024, with a first administration planned for 2027. He has served on several NCBE committees, including the Editorial Advisory Committee for NCBE’s Bar Examiner magazine, and is currently a member of NCBE’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
2025 Honoree: Frederick J. Coolbroth (New Hampshire)
Frederick J. Coolbroth has served on the New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners since 1987, and served as its chair from 1996 to 2010. He played a pivotal role in New Hampshire’s adoption of the Multistate Essay Examination and Multistate Performance Test, and later of the Uniform Bar Exam. His work was also crucial to the development and implementation of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, and he served for many years as a mentor to law students enrolled in that program. He continues to grade questions on the New Hampshire bar exam.
Coolbroth served three terms as a member of the Complaint Screening Committee for the New Hampshire Attorney Discipline System and subsequently on the Attorney Discipline System’s Hearings Committee. He was a member of NCBE’s Multistate Performance Test Committee from 2009 to 2011.
2027 Nominations
For more information about the award, including eligibility criteria and deadlines, consult the 2026 Call for Nominations PDF document. Nominations for 2027 will open later this year.