alumni news estate groups. In addition to his legal practice, Knowles currently serves on the Legal Opinions Committee for the State Bar of Texas Business Law Section. Bill Colby, L’82, has become general counsel of Truman Medical Center. He was previously a senior fellow at the Center for Practical Bioethics. Colby represented the family of Nancy Cruzan, who lapsed into a persistent vegetative state after a car accident in January 1983. Four years later, her parents sought to have the feeding tubes that kept her alive removed. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court. After evidence was offered that Cruzan would not have wanted to live “like a vegetable,” the tubes were removed and she died 11 days later. Colby wrote a book about the case and another that addresses end-of-life issues. Colby’s plea before the court ultimately led to the federal constitutional right by patients to refuse unwanted medical treatment. Brig. Gen. Clyde J. “Butch” Tate, L’82, has been selected for promotion to the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and appointment as Deputy Judge Advocate General. Tate and his wife, Lynn, live in Fort Belvoir, Va. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, L’83, received Kansas State University’s College of Agriculture 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Brownback earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from K-State in 1979. He has been actively engaged in re-opening U.S. beef trade in Asia and increasing markets for Kansas agriculture products. He is also encouraging measures to protect American farmers and food supplies, promoting new energy sources and biotechnologies, and working to revitalize the rural heartland with tax incentives and job creation. Timothy M. O’Brien, L’83, was sworn in as president of the Kansas Bar Association in June at the KBA Board of Governors meeting during the association’s annual meeting in Overland Park. O’Brien is the clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Prior to joining the court in 2008, he was a partner at the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP at its offices in Overland Park and Kansas City, Mo. Michele Ticknor Gildner, L’84, and Gary Gildner were married in May. They make their home in Idaho’s Clearwater Mountains.
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Janet Murguia, L’85, received the Kansas and Western Missouri ACLU’s Kurtenbach Racial Justice Award at the Liberty Awards Dinner in October. Murguia is president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza in Washington, D.C. Scott J. Bloch, L’86, is a partner with Tarone & McLaughlin LLP in Washington, D.C., and a principal with SmithBloch PLCC in Kansas City, practicing in complex litigation, class actions, employment and government contracts law. Paula E. Drungole, L’86, was appointed youth court judge, Oktibbeha County, Starkville, Miss., in July. Robert P. Harris, L’87, was one of 152 attorneys from the national law firm of Quarles & Brady selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2010. Harris is in the firm’s Phoenix office and practices in the areas of bankruptcy and creditor-debtor rights law. Mark Bannister, L’88, has become dean of the College of Business at Fort Hays State University. He remains a senior policy fellow at the Docking Institute of Public Affairs and teaches and writes on technology and telecommunications legal issues. For the last 10 years, he has been chair of the department of information networking and telecommunications at Fort Hays State University. Kathy Greenlee, L’88, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 24 to be the new assistant secretary for aging at the Department of Health and Human Services. She will work closely with secretary Kathleen Sebelius, former governor of Kansas, who appointed Greenlee to head the Kansas Department of Aging in 2006. Sebelius said of Greenlee, “I am pleased the Senate has confirmed her today as assistant secretary of aging. She will be an outstanding advocate for older Americans across the country and a valued leader at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
1990s Larry Swall, L’90, was recently honored by the Missouri Bar Association as the recipient of two prestigious awards: the 2009 Roger Krumm Family Law Practitioner of the Year Award and the Missouri Bar President’s Award for excellence in the practice of law. Swall was the first and only executive director of the MARCH Mediation Program in Missouri. He was involved in starting and building the Missouri Bar Family Law Conference and was a founding member and past president of the
Missouri Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. He is currently chair of the Missouri Bar Family Law Section. John T. Bullock, L’91, Lawrence, has joined Stevens & Brand LLP as a partner. His areas of concentration will be commercial litigation, real estate and construction, regulated industries, constitutional rights, and personal injury. Bullock was previously a partner in the law firm of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP San Francisco, Calif. Kurt Level, L’92, has returned to Wichita and Koch, where he is associate general counsel for labor and employment, Koch Companies Public Sector LLC. Level moved to Las Vegas in November 2008. He reports that he is happy to be back in Kansas, where it is far more convenient to watch the KU football and basketball games than it was in Las Vegas. Kurt, his wife, Elaine, and their two children live in Andover. R. Patrick Riordan, L’92, is practicing with the newly formed law firm of Riordan, Fincher & Munson PA in Topeka. He is specializing in commercial litigation, business and banking, and contracts. Kyle Elliott, L’93, was appointed chairman of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. at its June board of directors meeting. Elliott is with the law firm of Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP in Kansas City, Mo. Harry H. Herington Jr., L’93, has embarked on a mission to raise awareness of the dangers that law enforcement officers face and the sacrifices made by the families of fallen officers. Herington was a law enforcement officer in Midland, Texas, and Wichita prior to attending law school. He is currently CEO of Olathebased NIC Inc., which manages Web sites and online services for more than 3,000 government agencies in 23 states. A combination of his work-related visits to state capitals, his respect for law enforcement officers and his purchase of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle led Herington to come up with the idea for a nationwide ride: Ride4Cops. He plans to ride his motorcycle to each state capital over the next three years. He began his ride in July in Texas and has since visited five capitals, including Topeka.You can follow the progress of Herington’s nationwide ride at www.ride4cops.com. Brandee L. Caswell, L’98, a partner in the Denver office of Faegre & Benson LLP, has been honored as a prestigious “Forty Under 40” recipient by the Denver Business Journal. The award highlights business leaders under the age of 40 whose professional and commu-