College of Law announces 2007 Alumni Council award winners

Former Gov. Charles Thone, College of Law supporters Barb and Ron Schaefer, Professor Colleen Medill and law student Ryan Sevcik are the recipients of the University of Nebraska College of Law's 2007 Alumni Council Awards. Official presentation of the awards was made May 11 at the annual Alumni Council banquet.

Steve Willborn, dean of the collage and the Richard C. and Catherine Stuart Schmoker professor of law, said the council established the awards to give the Law College an opportunity to recognize its highest achieving alumni, faculty and students.

"This year's recipients are all very well-deserving and fit well within the Alumni Council's hopes and aspirations when they established the awards," Willborn said.

Thone, the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, was governor of Nebraska from 1979 to 1983 and U.S. representative for Nebraska's 1st Congressional District from 1971 to 1979 and a 1949 graduate of the College of Law. While in Congress, Thone served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Since his retirement from public service, he has practiced law in the Lincoln office of Erickson & Sederstrom.

The Schaefers are the recipients of the Outstanding Service Award, given for the demonstration of loyalty, leadership and service to the college. The couple's generosity permitted the construction of the Oscar and Ruby Wittman lounge and also the creation of an endowed scholarship in the name of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barb Schaefer, a vice president at Union Pacific Railroad, has also served for many years on the Law College's Alumni Council, including a two-year term as chair.

Medill is the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award, given to a member of the faculty whose teaching, writing and service have brought high credit to the college. Medill is the leading young scholar in the country on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Her most recent article was published in the Cornell Law Review and she is the sole author of one of the leading textbooks. She is active on national boards and commissions, and is also highly recognized as a teacher and mentor to students.

Sevcik is the recipient of the Woods & Aitken Outstanding Student Award, given to a student who exemplifies the qualities of loyalty, service and achievement. While in law school, Sevcik was the executive president of the Student Bar Association, participated in the client counseling competition, the Allen moot court competition, Christian Legal Society and was the research editor for the Nebraska Law Review. He was the recipient of the Law College Prize for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. A native of Falls City, Sevcik received his juris doctor degree May 5 and has accepted a position with the Koley Jessen firm in Omaha.

CONTACT: Sarah Gloden, Asst. Dean, Law, (402) 472-2161