Law school honors trio of distinguished alumni
Faculty recognized for service, scholarship, leadership
Native American students net awards, leadership roles

Law school honors trio of distinguished alumni

The KU School of Law has bestowed three of its most accomplished graduates with Distinguished Alumnus Citations.

Sheila Bair, l’78; William Sampson, l’71; and Mikel Stout, l’61, received the award at a ceremony in early May. The citations are presented annually to KU School of Law graduates who have distinguished themselves through exemplary service to the legal profession, their community, the University and the state or country.

A native of Independence, Sheila Bair received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from KU in 1975 and her J.D. in 1978. She began her career working as chief counsel to former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole. In June 2006, Bair became the 19th Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Just five months after her appointment, she was named to The Wall Street Journal magazine's Smart Money's “Power 30” list, a lineup of the 30 most influential people in investing.

Prior to joining the FDIC, Bair established herself as a nationally recognized leader in the area of financial policy through various positions, including a stint as senior vice president for government relations at the New York Stock Exchange. She has lent time and expertise to a host of professional and nonprofit organizations, including the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, Women in Housing and Finance, Center for Responsible Lending, American Bar Association, Exchequer Club, and Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her first children’s book, “Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock,” which encourages children to save money, was published in 2006.

William Sampson, who moved to Kansas in time for high school, earned a bachelor’s in history from KU in 1968 and a J.D. in 1971. He was topics editor of the Kansas Law Review and a finalist in the James Barclay Smith Moot Court Competition. Four years of active duty as a Navy judge advocate followed law school, and Sampson returned to Wichita in l975 to join the trial section of Foulston Siefkin. In 1987, he moved to Shook, Hardy & Bacon, where he remains.

Sampson has been recognized nationally and internationally and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business, and in Who's Who Legal—The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers. With his law partner, Bill Hays, he is the author of “Kansas Trial Handbook,” part of Thomson/West's Kansas Law and Practice Series. He has tried cases in Kansas and in numerous other states and has taught more than 100 continuing legal education programs in this country and abroad. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel and served on the faculty of its Trial Academy, and he served for years on the trial tactics faculty at The Emory University School of Law.

Born and raised in Kansas, Mikel Stout earned a bachelor’s in animal husbandry at Kansas State University in 1958 and his J.D. from KU in 1961. He served as an editor of the Kansas Law Review and was inducted into Order of the Coif. Following graduation, Stout served as a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps. In 1963 he joined the law firm of Foulston Siefkin in Wichita, where his focus is business litigation.

Stout is a past president of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel, the Wichita Bar Association and the Kansas Bar Foundation. He was co-chair of the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group for five years. In 1984, he was appointed to the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications, a position he continues to hold. Inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1984, Stout is the current and 57th president of the group. Stout has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers of America, the Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyer, and Chambers USA.

Faculty recognized for service, scholarship, leadership

Law students, KU and national organizations have selected several faculty members at the School of Law for awards that recognize their value as mentors, scholars, public servants and international leaders.

Professor John W. Head has been selected as a recipient of the 2008 Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award, granted by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The award recognizes individuals with a "career of outstanding contributions that furthers international education of state and land-grant institutions.”

Head has taught law in several countries in Europe and Asia, and regularly undertakes overseas assignments involving international financial law, international organizations and international legal training. He coaches the law school’s highly successful international law moot court teams and co-sponsors the International Law Society.

Stephen R. McAllister, professor of law, has received a Steeples Service to Kansans Award, which is given to faculty members who provide significant service to the people of Kansas as a purposeful extension of their teaching and research. Before this year, the award was limited to faculty in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. This year, faculty members from the entire University were eligible.

McAllister has served as dean of the law school and as interim director of the Dole Institute of Politics. He teaches courses in Constitutional Law, Constitutional Litigation and Torts. He is currently the Solicitor General of Kansas, and is the first person in that position to represent the state in constitutional cases.

Webb Hecker received the 2008 Frederick J. Moreau Award, given annually to a law school faculty member who, in the eyes of law students, has been particularly helpful in advising and counseling students. Hecker teaches Business Associations and Estates and Trusts. He was the Robert A. Schroeder Teaching Fellow from 1990 to 1993 and received the Immel Award for Teaching Excellence in 1996 and a W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2000.

Native American students net awards, leadership roles

Two law students have been recognized nationally for their leadership and academic achievement.

Burton Warrington, a second-year law student from Keshena, Wis., has been elected president of the National Native American Law Students Association. He will serve during the 2008-’09 term.

Warrington (Menominee, Prairie Band Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk) was elected to the post by the NNALSA membership at the organization’s annual board meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. He is currently wrapping up a term as president of the KU chapter of NALSA.

Tracie Revis, a first-year law student from Tulsa, Okla., has been selected as a 2008 Native American Congressional Intern by the Morris K. Udall Foundation. Revis, the first KU student to participate in the Udall program, is one of 12 students from 11 tribes and 11 colleges and universities to be chosen for the honor.

She will complete an intensive, 10-week internship this summer in Washington, D.C., where she will work full-time in congressional offices or federal agencies and observe the federal legislative process firsthand.

Revis (Yuchi and Muskogee Creek), who is wolf clan from Polecat Ceremonial Grounds in Kellyville, Okla., has worked in Indian Country in various roles, including with Indian Child Welfare. Her interests include family law, environmental law and natural resource preservation.

The Udall Interns are selected by an independent review committee of nationally recognized Native American educators and tribal policy leaders on the basis of demonstrated commitment to careers in tribal public policy and academic achievement. Since its inception in 1996, 149 Native American/Alaska Native students from 98 tribes have participated in the program.

The Morris K. Udall Foundation was authorized by Congress in 1992 to honor Congressman Udall’s legacy of public service. The Foundation is supported by a trust fund in the U.S. Treasury and contributions from the private sector.

Visit the School of Law Web site for more information.