From left, Benny Agosto Jr., Judge Josefina Rendon and University of Houston Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes celebrate the donation of the Rendon Scholarship for first-generation college students.
Dec. 21, 2023 —Benny Agosto Jr., the managing partner of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, has established a scholarship to support first-generation college students at the University of Houston Law Center. This donation is dedicated to the UH Law Center alumna Judge Josefina Rendon (B.A. ’72, J.D. ’76).
“It is my great honor and pleasure to donate this endowment in honor of Judge Josefina Rendon as a great jurist, a great lawyer, and as a [fellow] Puerto Rican,” said Agosto Jr. “The example of hard work and dedication to the law” makes Rendon the ideal person to honor.
The scholarship for first-generation college students is named after Rendon, a trailblazer in the legal field, who became one of Harris County’s first Hispanic women attorneys in 1977, Houston’s first woman Civil Service Commissioner in 1981 and one of Houston’s first Hispanic judges in 1983.
“This scholarship will reduce the cost of legal education for students, and being named after Judge Rendon, the scholarship recipient will have the judge's career to serve as a guiding star for their legal careers,” said University of Houston Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes. “Congratulations to Judge Rendon on this well-deserved recognition, and many thanks to Benny Agosto, Jr. for his philanthropy.”
Rendon, whose accolades include the Hispanic Bar Association Lifetime Achievement Award, The Houston Lawyer Magazine Pioneer in Houston Law award and the City of Houston Lifetime Achievement Award, expressed her gratitude for the honor.
“Thank you so much to Benny Agosto Jr. and Dean Leonard Baynes for your generosity and graciousness in establishing a student endowment scholarship in my name at the University of Houston Law Center,” said Rendon. “It is also a privilege to have been a graduate of the UHLC, which for over 50 years has been at the vanguard of promoting diversity in the legal profession.”
