Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Rhode Island's top judicial officer is receiving the Distinguished Jurist Award given at Mississippi State each spring for the past 29 years.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams will be honored March 21 by the university's Pre-Law Society. He will accept the award and speak on a topic of his choosing during an 11 a.m. public program in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.
As part of the student organization's tradition in honoring the careers of outstanding judicial practitioners, the honoree will join a group of society members for a legal roundtable during the afternoon. The approximately one-hour discussion--also open to the public--will get under way at 2 p.m. in 160 Bowen Hall.
Williams, a Richmond resident, has led the state's highest court since 2001. For six years prior to that, he was an associate justice with the superior court.
In addition to earning bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Rhode Island, Williams holds a master's in taxation from Bryant College (now University) in Smithfield.
He earlier served as a probate judge and member of the board of bar examiners in his home state. He also was named to the Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, the world's leading provider of conflict management and dispute resolution services.
Outside the judicial realm, Williams, a former Army officer and decorated Vietnam veteran, holds two other positions of distinction.
In 1995, he became founding chair of The Lincoln Forum, a national organization devoted to the study of President Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. His research into the life and times of the 16th U.S. president led to a book titled "Judging Lincoln" (2002, Southern Illinois University Press).
The book has received critical praise. The Library Journal recommended it "for libraries that wish to have a truly comprehensive collection of materials on this president." Well-known Civil War historian James M. McPherson lauded its "many fresh and provocative insights" and "scrupulous and impartial empathy."
Williams' Civil War "hobby" also led to an interest in the life and accomplishments of Union Gen. and, later, President Ulysses Grant. Since 1990, he has served as president of the U.S. Grant Association.
In being selected for the MSU Pre-Law Society recognition, Williams joins the ranks of former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom Clark, sitting Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, former U.S. attorneys general Griffin Bell, Edward Levi and William Webster, numerous federal and state judges, and a Louisiana city judge.
The Distinguished Jurist Award is supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and Office of the President.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information on the program, contact Pre-Law Society adviser Diane Wall at (662) 325-7864 or dew1@ps.msstate.edu.