The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

 


Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, 277-1593, michal@unm.edu

Ocober 10, 2006

13th Annual Achievement Dinner Honors UNM School of Law Alumni Oct. 20
Honorees Include first Native American graduate

The University of New Mexico School of Law Alumni Association will present the 13th Annual Distinguished Achievement Awards Dinner Friday, Oct. 20, in the Student Union Building ballroom. A beer and wine reception at 6 p.m. will be followed by dinner and award presentations at 7 p.m.

The 2006 honorees are John Echohawk, Pat Bryan III, Arthur Beach and Toby Grossman (posthumously).

Echohawk became the first Native American graduate of the School of Law in 1970. He is considered one of the country's foremost litigators in tribal sovereignty and safeguarding natural resources and ancestral burial sites. A member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, he helped found the Native American Rights Fund in 1970 to provide legal assistance to Indian tribes and has served as executive director since 1977.

 

Bryan graduated from the School of Law in 1974. In 1975, he became Albuquerque's city attorney and the youngest to serve in this role for a population greater than 250,000. After eight years, he returned to private practice, specializing in civil rights, personal injury and government-related issues. He regularly devotes time to improving his community through open space preservation and downtown revitalization.

Beach graduated from the School of Law in 1970. He has served on the School of Law Alumni Association 's board of directors since 1990. Since joining Keleher & McLeod in 1974, he has been a defense litigator in cases involving automobile accidents, workers' compensation claims and products liability

 

 

Grossman joined the School of Law 's American Indian Law Center in 1971 to write a tribal children's code. The result was a model that tribes continue to rely on today. She continued to work at the center, leading efforts to develop tribal codes for child welfare, adoption and prevention of elder abuse, until her death from a fast-moving cancer in 2004. She also assisted several tribes in negotiating tribal-state agreements on the Indian Child Welfare Act and trained social workers and judges on child welfare law.

Reservations for the awards dinner must be received by Oct. 13. Ticket prices range from $75 per person to $1,000 per table of ten, and are partially tax deductible. Free parking will be available in Lot A. All proceeds benefit the UNM School of Law Alumni Association. For tickets and information, contact Carmen Rawls at 277-8184 or rawls@law.unm.edu.

Sponsors include the UNM School of Law and Keleher & McLeod PA.

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The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

www.unm.edu