The New Jersey Utilities Association has honored Stephen B. Genzer ’73 with its 2005 Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes his commitment to defending the utility industry and helping to maintain its high standards.
“I was very pleased to receive the award since it’s given out so rarely,” he says.
Genzer has been involved with utility law for over 30 years. He got his start with the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate, Division of Rate Counsel, and decided to remain focused on utilities. Before joining Saul Ewing, LLP, where he is managing partner, Genzer was a partner in the Newark office of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP.
Genzer also chaired the New Jersey Bar Association’s Public Utility Law Section and now serves on its Board of Consulters. In 2001, he was co-chair of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Transition Team. He participates in formal and informal task forces and working groups affiliated with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
“The utility infrastructure of the country is essential to modern life,” Genzer says. “Utilities, by their nature, have to work with government to make sure that the lights go on, that we get heat in the winter, and that the water is clean when we turn on our taps.”
Genzer is an adjunct professor in the Kean University Masters of Public Administration Program. He has been a core faculty member at the semi-annual Eastern and Western Utility Rate Schools since 1980. He was an adjunct professor at Rutgers University’s School of Law and its Graduate School of Business.
A history graduate, Genzer remembers the influence of his adviser Robert I. Weiner, Jones Professor of History, who began teaching at Lafayette during his freshman year.
“I took every course he gave,” he recalls. “He was a wonderful teacher.”
Genzer received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1976 and has been admitted to the New Jersey and New York Bar Associations.