The University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law will hold its 21st Annual Alumni Awards Banquet on April 13 at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities.
The ceremony, which will honor alumni for "distinguished achievement," begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner and the presentation of awards an hour later. Dean Hal Bruff will open the program and Larry C. Smith ('96), chair of the Law Alumni Board, will be the master of ceremonies.
Following are this year's recipients:
Greenwood Village resident Donald E. Abram ('63) is a retired U.S. magistrate judge. Abram had a distinguished legal career that began as a trial attorney in 1963. In 1975 he was appointed district judge in the 10th Judicial District (Pueblo). He served on that bench until his appointment as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District Court of Colorado from 1981 to 2000.
Charles E. Bedford ('92) is the associate state director for the Nature Conservancy of Colorado. He went to the position in 2001 after almost four years as director of the Colorado Board of Land Commissioners, a state agency that manages 3 million acres of land and 1.5 million acres of mineral rights in Colorado.
Boulder resident G. Lane Earnest ('63) currently serves on the 20th Judicial District Nominating Committee. Well-known around Colorado as "Earnie the Attorney," Lane's practice has emphasized general corporate, business associations, real estate, foundations, banking, and health care law.
Lorenzo A. Trujillo ('93) is legal counsel for the District Attendance Office for Adams County School District 14 in Commerce City where he also serves as the principal of Lester Arnold Alternative High School and Virtual High School. As legal counsel, he has been instrumental in the reduction of the school district's truancy rate from approximately 13 percent to 3 percent.
J. Wallace Wortham Jr. ('74) has been the Denver City Attorney since January 2000. Wortham joined the City Attorney office in 1989 as an assistant city attorney and as the supervisor for employment law and risk management. Wortham is active in the Denver community as president of the Colorado Task Force on Cancer Among Blacks, as a board member for the Black American West Museum and as a fellow in the Denver Chamber of Commerce Leadership Denver program.
A Special Recognition Award will be given to Professor Norton Steuben, a faculty member at the CU School of Law since 1968. Steuben will retire in May. A graduate of the Michigan Law School, Steuben's career has been marked by excellence in a number of areas -- notably writing, teaching and public service.
Steuben is a prolific writer in the areas of taxation and real estate, authoring numerous law review and journal articles and five books. His real estate planning book established that course in the nation's law schools. A demanding but popular teacher, he has received many awards, including the law school's Teaching Excellence Award, the CU-Boulder Teaching Recognition Award and the CU Student and Alumni Organization's Teaching Recognition Award. He was named a Presidential Teaching Scholar in 1989, CU's highest teaching recognition.
For more information call David Gosser at (303) 492-3124.