When U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara returned to Ranney School to deliver a commencement address, he told the audience, "A lot of who I am comes from my time at this school."

Bharara, who graduated from Ranney in 1986 and is on the most recent cover of TIME magazine, is credited in the article with taking down "some of the financial world's most prominent figures."

"It was at Ranney, after reading a play called Inherit the Wind and a book called To Kill a Mockingbird, that I resolved I would one day go to law school," he said in the 2010 speech.

According to the article featured in TIME, since becoming the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, Mr. Bharara has expanded the office’s work on securities fraud, busting 63 people for insider trading, convicting 56 of them, with seven trials still pending.

“This is an extraordinary accomplishment for Preet, who has shown tremendous courage in his efforts to address some of the most complex issues facing our country today,” said Head of School Lawrence S. Sykoff, Ed.D in a release. “I am especially proud of the example of knowledge, vision and honor that he has demonstrated throughout his distinguished career. He is an exceptional role model for our students and we are proud of all that he continues to accomplish.”

Mr. Bharara - the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan - oversees the litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in the District, which is comprised of Manhattan, Bronx, Westchester, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Sullivan Counties, according to a release from Ranney. He supervises an office of more than 450 employees, including more than 200 Assistant United States Attorneys.

He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in Government in 1990, and from Columbia Law School with a J.D. in 1993, where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review, according to the release. Mr. Bharara has strong family ties to Ranney School. His father, Dr. Jagdish Bharara, served on the Ranney Board of Trustees, retiring from the Board in 1999.

His brother, Vinit Bharara ’89, co-founded a business, Diapers.com, in Tinton Falls with Marc Lore ’89, and sold it in 2010 to mega e-commerce giant, Amazon.com. In addition, family members who are Panthers include his cousin Nisha Sondhi '10, and cousins Pooja Sondhi '10, and Paul Sondhi '13.