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June 25, 2007
Athens, Ga. — Wesleyan College President Ruth Austin Knox recently received The University of Georgia School of Law alumni association’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Scroll Award. The award is given annually to individuals whose dedication and service to the legal profession and the law school deserves special recognition. The awards were presented during the Law School Association’s annual breakfast held in conjunction with the State Bar of Georgia’s Annual Meeting on June 16. Also receiving the award was 1987 UGA Law graduate B.J. Bernstein of Atlanta, Georgia.
Fellow Georgia Law alumnus and lifelong friend William D. “Bill” Barwick presented the prestigious award to Knox with “great personal pride and happiness,” saying “[Ruth] is one of those great and true people who believes in giving back to the community. … It seems as though she was destined for an excellent and wonderful and prosperous career in the practice of law.”
Knox said she was grateful to past winners of the award for their “inspiring examples of leadership and service” and was “thrilled and deeply honored” to receive this award from the Law School Association. “I am truly in awe of the distinguished company of previous recipients,” she said. She also thanked those present for their service to the profession and to the public and for the examples they set for young people throughout the state.
Knox graduated magna cum laude from Wesleyan College in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in English. She went on to attend Georgia Law where she graduated magna cum laude in 1978 and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She also served on the Georgia Law Review, including as a notes editor.
After graduating, Knox began working for Kutak Rock, a national law firm specializing in commercial real estate and public finance transactions. She worked there as both an associate and partner until opening her own practice in 1990. During this time, Knox continued her real estate specialty while expanding into estate planning and corporate work.
Over the years, Knox maintained her connection to Wesleyan College through active service on the Board of Managers of the Alumnae Association and on the Board of Trustees until 2002 when she was appointed acting president for the college. Knox became the 24th president of Wesleyan in January 2003 and was the first alumna in the history of the college to hold that position. That same year, she was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Ulyanovsk State University in Ulyanovsk, Russia.
Despite her busy schedule, Knox has remained involved in her local community through a wide variety of civic and volunteer opportunities. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Macon, serves on numerous professional and regional community boards and serves on several national boards. She has also served on the law school’s Board of Visitors. Recently, Knox was named to Georgia Trend’s “100 Most Influential Georgians” list. |
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