KU Law to honor three distinguished alumni

LAWRENCE – Three University of Kansas School of Law alumni will receive the law school’s highest honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award, this year. The award celebrates graduates for their professional achievements, contributions to the legal field and service to their community and the university.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot, Jan Bowen Sheldon and Paul Yde will receive the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award at a private dinner on April 13 in Lawrence.

Monti Belot

Monti Belot, L’68, was nominated to the District of Kansas by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. Belot took the oath later that year and became a U.S. district judge where he presided over many high-profile cases such as the first U.S. trial related to the Rwandan genocide. In 2008, upon reaching age and service requirements, Belot took senior status. Although a federal district judgeship is a lifetime paid appointment and service to the court is no longer required from a senior judge, Belot remained steadfastly dedicated to the bench and heard cases until 2015. Prior to joining the bench, he served as a JAG Corps officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve, clerked for U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown and became an assistant U.S. attorney followed by several years in private practice.

Jan Bowen Sheldon

Jan Bowen Sheldon, Ph.D., L’77, was a professor at KU in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science from 1977 until her retirement in December 2020. She also served as a courtesy professor in the School of Law from 1981 until her retirement. She is currently a professor emerita. Sheldon taught in the areas of juvenile law, delinquency, truancy, behavior therapy, alternative dispute resolution and legal rights of dependent populations. She was inducted into the KU Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women in Behavior Analysis Hall of Fame and has received numerous awards for her teaching, advising and service including the Steeples Service to Kansas Award and the Kemper Teaching Fellow Award. Sheldon was a founding board member of Community Living Opportunities (now GoodLife Innovations), Full Citizenship and the Lawrence Partnership for Children and Youth. She developed the Family Enhancement in-home therapy program as well as the  Douglas County Truancy Prevention and Diversion Program, which she co-redirected for more than 40 years. Sheldon was also the director of the Edna A. Hill Child Development Center at KU for more than 20 years. Her community honors include serving as a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International and receiving the Distinguished Contributions to Behavior Analysis Award from the Kansas Association for Behavior Analysis and the Jan B. Sheldon Award for Excellence in Advocacy, Mentorship and Meaningful Change from the Center for Supportive Communities.

Paul Yde

Paul Yde, L’85, M’85, was the head of the U.S. antitrust practice of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from 2002 until his retirement in 2021. He defended hundreds of large mergers and acquisitions before the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and various state attorneys general, including many of the largest and most complex transactions worldwide. Yde also defended dozens of clients in some of the most significant civil and criminal antitrust investigations at the FTC and DOJ. For this work, he received numerous professional honors, including being cited for more than 20 years as a leading U.S. antitrust lawyer by Chambers, Global Competition Review, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, New York Times Dealbook and other publications. He wrote numerous articles on antitrust law and economics in scholarly and trade publications and served as an editor of the Antitrust Law Journal and the ABA’s Antitrust magazine. Prior to private practice, Yde served in several positions in antitrust enforcement with the Ohio Attorney General and at the FTC, including advising two federal trade commissioners. After his retirement, Yde co-founded Hector Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on neuroscience innovation with an emphasis on developmental disabilities.

Previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are listed on the law school’s website.

The law school will also recognize James Woods Green Medallion honorees and members of the Dean’s Club. Named after the law school’s first dean, the medallion recognizes the school’s major financial supporters. This year’s honorees include:

• Orval Baldwin II, L’80
• Jane Finn, L’77
• Timothy Glassco, L’02
• Adam Godderz, L’01, and Meg Godderz
• Theresa Leaming
• William Moore, L’06
• Jan Bowen Sheldon, L’77, and James Sherman
• Lawrence Sheppard, L’66
• Randall Snapp, L’85
• Jean Wise, L’92.