Awards

Distinguished Latino Alumni Award - 2012

About Albert Velasquez

Albert Velasquez is an administrative law judge in the Indianapolis Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, and one of the first Hispanic graduates of Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

A first-generation Mexican-American, Velasquez was born in 1944 in Chicago and named after his father. His family eventually settled in Marion, Ind., and younger Al graduated from Bennett High School. He attended Loyola University of Chicago from 1962 to 1964 and the IU School of Business (today the Kelley School of Business) from 1965 to 1967, earning a Bachelor of Science in business insurance.

Like his father, Velasquez enlisted in the U.S. Army; he served in Vietnam in artillery units, eventually earning the rank of captain. Within a month of being discharged in April 1971, he enrolled at the IU School of Law (today the Maurer School) and settled in Bloomington with his wife and young family. In August 1973, Velasquez graduated from IU with a law degree and moved to Phoenix, where he served as an assistant attorney general for the state of Arizona for two years. While there, he did post-graduate studies in real estate finance and business management at Arizona State University.

In July 1975, the Velasquez family returned to IU Bloomington, where he served as an associate university counsel until 1995. In 1996, he was appointed a U.S. administrative law judge and currently serves in that capacity. He is admitted to practice before the Indiana Supreme Court, Arizona Supreme Court, United States District Court of Arizona, U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana, U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana, U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Military Appeals.

He remained active in the U.S. Army with service in the Army Reserve and Indiana National Guard. In 1990, he was appointed the first chief military judge for the Indiana National Guard, conducting both special and general courts martial. His military awards include the Bronze Star with second oak leaf cluster, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army National Guard Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and General's Staff Badge. In 1996, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel and as the chief military judge of the Indiana National Guard.

His community activity includes service as a board member and president of the Monroe County Community Kitchen, as a board member of the Bloomington chapter of the American Red Cross and past president of the Bloomington Chapter of the IU Varsity Club. He is a member of the IU Maurer School of Law Latino Alumni Advisory Board.