Law School Recipients
Charles W. Mentkowski Sports Law Alumna of the Year Award
NYEA G.B. STURMAN, LAW '03
Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Working in the ultra-competitive world of the NBA has taught Nyea the following: Work hard, use your resources and learn from your mistakes. As general counsel for the Orlando Magic, she played a key role in building the team’s legal department.
“I was tasked, in conjunction with my co-counsel, with founding the legal department in the organization and building it from the ground up,” Nyea says. “It continues to evolve, but I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and looking forward to the opportunity to champion further growth.”
The confidence to set and accomplish goals is a trait Nyea traces to her mother.
“She instilled in me the belief that I could do or be anything I chose,” says Nyea, who, during her time at the Law School, served as executive editor of the Marquette Sports Law Review and president of the Sports Law Society. “She had limitations on her career path growing up overseas and was determined that I would not face any of those same challenges. She has been my toughest critic and biggest supporter and is one of my best friends.”
Nyea serves on the National Sports Law Institute’s board of advisers and returns to campus to speak on career panels and at the NSLI’s annual conference.
“Marquette gave me the tools and the foundation to build my legal career,” she says. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Marquette and the National Sports Law Institute.”
