Metropolitan College bestows honorary doctorate on Justice Hinds-Radix

June 24, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

You can now call her Dr. Sylvia Hinds-Radix, after she received an honorary doctorate from the Metropolitan College of New York earlier this month. Eagle photo by Mario Belluomo

Share this:

Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix is one of the most well respected jurists in Brooklyn for her long legal career. She has served as a criminal court judge, a civil court judge, served on the state Supreme Court and currently serves as an associate justice of the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department.

Earlier this month, Justice Hinds-Radix added another title to her already substantial list — doctor.

Metropolitan College of New York honored Justice Hinds-Radix with a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree when she gave the keynote address at the school’s graduation on June 13.

“I was so pleased when I found out that they asked me to speak at the school and would present me with the degree,” Hinds-Radix said. “It’s always good for people to recognize what you’ve done.”

Justice Hinds-Radix said that she got to know about the school through its President Vinton Thompson and now feels a special connection with the school and its founder Audrey Cohen.

“Audrey Cohen died young, in her 60s, but she was a very progressive thinking woman,” Hinds-Radix said. “She created an institution that is able to pave a path for people who didn’t have the ability to go to traditional colleges.”

During her speech, Justice Hinds-Radix told the graduates, all of whom were over the age of 30, that she was proud of them.

“These were adults who had other lives, who had children, who had jobs and came back to school understanding that they wanted to get degrees,” Hinds-Radix said. “One of the things I talked to the students about was the fact that this commencement was a demonstration of the fact that they understood the choices they have to make in life.”

She also challenged them to continue their quest in improving their lives through education and hard work and to be sure that they help those coming behind them, “I want you to go out and mentor someone else, give back to your community,” she said in her speech.

Justice Hinds-Radix’s illustrious career goes beyond her work on the bench. She got her law degree at Howard University and began working as an attorney after she passed the New York State Bar in 1985.

She is a member of several legal organizations including the Brooklyn Women’s Bar, where she served as president three years ago, and is on the board of directors for the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the St. John’s Bread and Life Agency and the St. Gabriel’s Senior Center. She is also a master of the Nathan R. Sobel Inn of Court.