NCBE’s Wellington Receives Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree

MADISON, WISCONSIN, JUNE 1, 2023—Marilyn Wellington, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer for the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from New England Law | Boston during its May 19, 2023, commencement ceremony. Wellington, who graduated from New England Law | Boston in 1991, was honored alongside retired Massachusetts Supreme Court Chief Justice Paula M. Carey and Walter B. Prince, Partner at Prince Lobel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Wellington is the former Executive Director of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners and was appointed to that position by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in September of 2010. Prior to her appointment with the Board of Bar Examiners, Wellington held positions in nonprofit and public-sector organizations across the legal community, including as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bar Association, Chief of Staff to the Massachusetts Trial Court System, and Principal Court Management Consultant for the National Center for State Courts. Wellington currently serves on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Steering Committee on Bar Admissions and its Standing Advisory Committee on Professionalism.

Wellington is the former Massachusetts cochair for the American Bar Foundation’s Fellows Program and is a former member of the NCBE Board of Trustees, chairing its Uniform Bar Examination and Character and Fitness Investigations Committees. She formerly served on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission and is a past chair of the Council of Bar Admission Administrators. Wellington is licensed as an attorney in Massachusetts. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Emmanuel College (’83) and her juris doctorate from New England Law | Boston (’91).

About the National Conference of Bar Examiners

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1931. NCBE promotes fairness, integrity, and best practices in bar admissions for the benefit and protection of the public, in pursuit of its vision of a competent, ethical, and diverse legal profession. Best known for developing bar exam content used by 54 US jurisdictions, NCBE serves admission authorities, courts, the legal education community, and candidates by providing high-quality assessment products, services, and research; character investigations; and informational and educational resources and programs. In 2026, NCBE will launch the next generation of the bar examination, ensuring that the exam continues to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for competent entry-level legal practice in a changing profession. For more information, visit the NCBE website at https://www.ncbex.org.