Western Connecticut State University Foundation honors Robert and Dianne Yamin

From left: Rebecca Yamin, Betty Yamin, Bob’s mother, Attorney Robert Yamin, Probate Judge Dianne Yamin, and Samantha Yamin Danbury attorneys Robert and Dianne Yamin were recognized for their exemplary professional and public service at the 30th annual WestConn Society Luncheon on Friday, March 25, hosted by the Western Connecticut State University Foundation.

The couple, partners in the law firm of Yamin & Yamin, accepted the foundation’s Community Service Award at the luncheon, held at The Matrix in Danbury. “Through their involvement in the community, both as public servants and as volunteers, Bob and Dianne have improved conditions throughout Connecticut,” Western Connecticut State University President Dr. James Schmotter said. “They are seemingly tireless and are great boosters of Danbury. The Yamins are exemplars of community service.”

Bob Yamin is a proud, third-generation member of Danbury’s large Lebanese community. He graduated from Western in 1979 at the top of his class, summa cum laude, completing a double major in history and political science in two years with a 4.0 GPA, and was accepted at the Harvard Law School, where he earned his law degree, the first Western alumnus to achieve that distinction.

From left: Eileen Rohland, Dianne’s sister; Linda Goetz, Dianne’s mother; Probate Judge Dianne Yamin, Raymond Goetz, Dianne’s father, and Christopher Goetz, Dianne’s brother Bob is the managing partner of Yamin & Yamin. Since 2002, he has also served as the City of Danbury’s corporation counsel and chief legal officer.

Bob is the continuing author of the Connecticut Bar Association’s “Lawyers Deskbook on Residential Real Estate Transactions.” From 1991 to 1995, Bob also served as the Republican leader on the Danbury City Council, and he served on the Republican State Central Committee for 15 years. In January, he was elected to the board of directors of the Lebanon American Club in Danbury.

Attorney Robert Yamin and Probate Judge Dianne Yamin with WCSU President Dr. James Schmotter Bob recently joined the board of the WCSU Foundation.

Dianne Yamin, a third-generation Danburian, is a graduate of Lehigh University and the Mercer University School of Law. She has been elected six times as Danbury’s Judge of Probate and is routinely the highest votegetter in municipal elections.

Dianne is a partner at Yamin & Yamin and has served as President Judge of the Connecticut Probate Assembly, as chair of the Mayor’s Task Force of the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness and in 2010, she was elected the chair of the board of directors of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the advisory board for the WCSU Institute for Financial Literacy and in December was named a corporator for the Savings Bank of Danbury. Dianne was profiled in a feature article by the American Bar Association in its Summer 1995 Barrister Magazine as one of “21 Young Lawyers Leading us into the 21st Century,” and in 1994 received the Statewide Connecticut Jaycees’ “Connecticut Outstanding Young Citizen Award” for her public education efforts as a judge.

Bob and Dianne have two children, Rebecca and Samantha, both WCSU graduates.