Since its founding in 2001, the Robert B. Fiske Jr. Fellowship Program for Government Service has annually recognized up to four Michigan Law graduates who serve as government lawyers. The 2026 class of Fiske Fellows was recently selected, welcoming Henry Evans, ’26, Gina Gasparotto, ’26, Graham Hardig, ’26, and Taylor Hopkins, ’24, into a special community of nearly 90 Michigan Law alumni.
The three-year fellowship, established by Robert B. Fiske Jr., ’55, HLLD ’97, enables law graduates to pursue government service positions by easing their debt burden. Each Fiske Fellow receives a $10,000 first-year cash stipend and debt repayment assistance, which is used to cover all required loan payments, not merely those pertaining to the cost of law school education. Fellowship eligibility is open to third-year Law School students, recent graduates serving in clerkships, and those in their first year of post-graduate government employment.
Fiske, who served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York in addition to a long career in private practice, believed in and exemplified the value of government service. This class of Fiske Fellows is the first since his death on December 4, 2025, at the age of 94.
“The Fiske Fellowship is such an amazing gift to Michigan Law students who want to pursue public service careers,” said Emily Bretz, ’11, public interest director for Michigan Law’s Office of Career Planning. “Bob Fiske had an incredible career in and out of government, and this fellowship represents his strong belief that government service makes you a better lawyer and a better person. We will miss Bob immensely, but he has left behind a wonderful legacy, continuing to support public interest students even after he is gone.
“Our four fellows this year demonstrate how important it is to have caring, thoughtful people in government roles. Three of them are working at State Attorney Generals’ Offices, fighting to protect the environment and doing critical work to promote environmental justice. The fourth is doing necessary work at the intersection of AI and national security, trying to make the world a safer place. I’m so excited to see where their careers take them and grateful for their commitment to work on behalf of the public.”
Get to know this year’s fellows
Henry Evans, ’26
Henry Evans, ’26, received the Justice Gregory Hobbs Jr. Fellowship to work for one year in the Natural Resources and Environmental Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. His work will center on protecting and improving the quality of Colorado’s land, air, water, and wildlife.
During his first summer of law school, Evans worked for the Yurok Tribe Office of the Tribal Attorney, which provides support and acts as legal counsel to the Yurok Tribal Council. During his 3L fall, he worked with a municipal government in Michigan through the Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic. Evans said he is eager to work on a wide range of issues in Colorado.
“The Fiske Fellowship is a privilege, and I’m immensely grateful for the financial support,” he said. “It puts an onus on me as a recipient to take the things I’ve learned at Michigan Law and be an excellent public servant.”
Gina Gasparotto, ’26
Gina Gasparotto, ’26, will join the Illinois Attorney General’s Environmental Enforcement Division. She studied environmental science as an undergraduate, which provided her with a strong foundation for understanding how communities interact with their environment and ultimately led her to pursue law school.
“My interest in environmental issues includes how legal systems respond to them,” said Gasparotto. “That’s what drew me to government work: being in a position where I can take advantage of legal tools to address environmental issues directly.”
At Michigan Law, she worked in the Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic, which afforded her a closer look at local and state-level enforcement of environmental law. Gasparotto also spent her law school summers interning in the nonprofit sector—first at the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center in Detroit, working on environmental justice and air quality issues; then at the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program in Washington, DC, focusing on flooding issues in Florida, enforcement of the Clean Air Act, and state energy policy.
“This fellowship is essential to my ability to accept a government position immediately after graduation, launching me into the career I’ve always dreamed of,” she said.
Graham Hardig, ’26
Graham Hardig, ’26, joined the Horizon Institute for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization in Washington, DC. Horizon supports emerging talent at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), national security, and technology policy by placing fellows with host organizations, including executive branch and congressional offices and think tanks. Hardig is an AI fellow on the executive branch track.
Having grown up in a military family just outside DC, Hardig was introduced to national security and international geopolitics from an early age. He then focused his law school education on national security, foreign affairs, and emerging technology law and policy. He launched Michigan Law’s Artificial Intelligence Law and Policy Society during his first year of law school. Hardig has also worked on AI and national security issues in the US Senate and the US Department of State. Most recently, he served as a fellow in the University of Oxford’s Programme for Cyber and Technology Policy.
“I’m extremely grateful to Mr. Fiske for establishing this fellowship,” he said. “With the support I’m receiving, it makes it all the more feasible to answer the call that I feel to public service. I’m incredibly honored.”
Taylor Hopkins, ’24
Taylor Hopkins, ’24, has been working as an assistant attorney general with the New York State Office of the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau since last October. She will continue her work through support from the Fiske Fellowship Program.
As a student, Hopkins was co-chair of Michigan Law’s Environmental Law Society. She then served as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Shirley M. Kawamura on Hawaiʻi’s First Circuit Environmental Court for one year following her graduation.
Hopkins said she is looking forward to continuing her work with the Environmental Protection Bureau. “It is an honor to be chosen for this fellowship. I am a first-generation lawyer, and the financial support I’m receiving gives me a sense of security so I can continue pursuing my dream. I went to law school so I could embark on a career advocating for the environment. In this job, I get to do exactly that.”