An oil portrait of alumnus and 46th U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. L’68, H’09 will go on permanent display in the College of Law’s Dineen Hall Law Library after a ceremony in April.
Syracuse University will unveil a portrait of alumnus and 46th U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. L’68, H’09 in Dineen Hall at the College of Law during a private ceremony with the former president on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
The artwork, painted by distinguished American portrait artist Michael Shane Neal, is an oil-on-canvas portraiture completed in 2025-2026. The portrait was commissioned by Syracuse University to honor one of its most prominent alumni. Neal is one of America’s foremost portrait artists, whose works hang in the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the Pentagon, among other prominent institutions.
“Syracuse Law is proud to count a former president among our many outstanding alumni,” College of Law Dean Terence J. Lau L’98 says. “President Biden has never forgotten where his legal career began, and we have never forgotten him. His portrait in Dineen Hall will remind every student who passes through our doors that a Syracuse Law education doesn’t just open doors. It can change the course of history.”
Biden earned a juris doctor from the College of Law in 1968 and has maintained a close connection with the University ever since. He delivered the College of Law Commencement address on four occasions—in 1994, 2002, 2006, and 2016—and returned to campus in 2009 to deliver the University’s Commencement address and receive an honorary degree.
Biden received the University’s Chancellor’s Medal in 1974; the Law Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003; and the George Arents Pioneer Medal, the University’s highest alumni award, in 2005. In 2018, he was honored with a prestigious Syracuse Law Honors Award from the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association and the College of Law.
The portrait will be on permanent display in the college’s Law Library Reading Room, where the public can view the painting during normal library hours.