Lafayette to award two honorary degrees at May 20 Commencement

Two respected alumni attorneys with deep ties to Lafayette College, Leslie F. Muhlfelder ’81 and Daniel E. Cohen ’65, will receive honorary Doctor of Laws degrees during the May 20 Commencement ceremony.

Retiring Vice President for Human Resources and General Counsel/Lecturer in Government and Law, Muhlfelder has provided steady and steadfast leadership and guidance to the College since she was appointed in 1995 by the Board of Trustees as the College’s first general counsel. 

Leslie F. Muhlfelder ’81

She served with distinction under four Lafayette presidents and four board chairs of the College. The Lafayette community is better for her tireless commitment to the College, her unwavering focus on providing our students with an exceptional education, and the friendships she has maintained with generations of trustees, faculty, staff, and students.

Before joining Lafayette’s administration and faculty in 1995, Muhlfelder served as associate university counsel at Temple University. Prior to working at Temple, she began her legal career as a litigator in private practice in Philadelphia. She earned her J.D. from Georgetown University, where she served as a member of the Georgetown law review, and her A.B. in economics from Lafayette, where she was awarded the Gilbert Prize in English.

During her time at the College, she has been relied on to lead countless committees and initiatives, and has lectured on legal issues facing colleges and universities. Over the years, Muhlfelder, a teacher at heart, has shared her passion for education by teaching a popular course in Lafayette’s Government and Law Department titled Race and Gender in the American Legal System.

In addition, the Human Resources team that she has led throughout the years reflects her unwavering commitment to supporting our faculty and staff colleagues. She is well known for advocating on behalf of the Lafayette community on important issues such as health care, tuition remission, and other benefits and programs.

Muhlfelder’s deep love for the College and her support of our community is apparent to anyone who knows her. Over the years, she and her husband, Richard Freemann, have expressed their commitment to the College’s mission by establishing the Lennertz Prize for Exceptional Teaching and Mentoring in honor of James E. Lennertz, her constitutional law professor at Lafayette, and the Ludwig and Beatrice B. Muhlfelder Prize, awarded each year to a Lafayette student who has made a significant contribution to the field of holocaust studies.

Cohen is an attorney (partner) at Hof & Reid LLC, a Bethlehem, Pa., law firm specializing in personal injury law. A native of Easton, Cohen graduated from Easton High School and Lafayette College (B.A., English). He went on to attend University of Pennsylvania Law School and began the practice of law in 1968, soon to partner with Norman Seidel in the firm of Seidel and Cohen, which grew into the present Hof & Reid LLC.

Daniel E. Cohen ’65

He has been admitted before the trial and appellate courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. 

He has served as a member of a hearing committee of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and, in the nonprofit world, has served as president and board member of B’nai Abraham synagogue, Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley Jewish Foundation, and ProJeCt of Easton Inc., as well as having served on the boards for the Hugh Moore Canal Commission, Premier Bank, now Fulton Bank, Friends of the State Theatre Inc., and City of Easton Police Practices Commission.

Cohen’s practice has concentrated in land use law, business organizations and corporate matters, transactions and wills, trusts, and estates.

At Lafayette, Cohen has assisted Gateway Career Center as a volunteer in various capacities including job fairs, internships, and the 1826 Law Society. He is married to Nancy Cohen, and the couple has two daughters. The Cohens reside in Easton.