Villani in the running

LYONS: Michele A. Villani recently announced her candidacy to seek the judicial seat to be vacated by the retirement of Judge Stephen Sirkin in 2009.

Villani graduated in June 1981 from St. Michael School in Newark and in 1985 from Lyons Central School. She was valedictorian at both graduations.

She was then appointed by President Reagan to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., from which she was graduated and commissioned in May 1989.

After graduation, Villani was commissioned as a regular Navy officer. Her first assignment was to Military Sealift Command Far East, Yokohama, Japan, where her duties included auditing and sole responsibility for payment of government bills of lading which, during Operation Desert Storm, increased from $8 million per month to $50 million per month.

Collaterally, she was appointed command intelligence officer for opening phases of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Military Sealift Command was tasked with securing commercial shipping sufficient to transport the equipment and supplies involved in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

After Desert Storm, Villani was reassigned to the Naval Academy and enrolled at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and received her law degree in 1995.

She was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in May 1991 and to lieutenant in September 1992. Her awards and decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (twice), National Defense Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Award and Navy Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon.

After graduation from law school and honorable discharge from the Navy, Villani joined the law firm of Villani & Grow. She is a member of the New York and Florida bar associations.

Villani was asked by Sirkin to become his court attorney in January 2000.

Villani lives in Lyons with her husband, Eric, a physics teacher at the School of Engineering and Manufacturing at Edison Tech in Rochester, and their two children, Benjamin and Katherine.

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