Law school to honor 3 distinguished alumni with award

Wed, 03/27/2019

Ashley Hocking

LAWRENCE — Three University of Kansas School of Law alumni will receive the law school’s highest honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award, this year.

Minnesota Management & Budget Office Commissioner Myron Frans, former AT&T Senior Vice President and General Counsel Linda Legg, and retired U.S. Army Major General Clyde Tate II will receive the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award, which celebrates graduates for their professional achievements, contributions to the legal field and service to their communities and the university. The awards will be presented at a private dinner April 13 in Lawrence.

Myron L. Frans After graduating from KU Law in 1983 where he served as editor-in-chief of the Kansas Law Review, Myron Frans began his career as a tax attorney for Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C. He later became a partner at Gray Plant Mooty and senior partner at Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis. Frans was selected as a “Best Lawyer in America” for more than 10 years and served on KU Law’s Board of Governors. He has also served as president of Leeds Precision Instruments. In 2011, Frans was appointed as Minnesota’s revenue commissioner. In 2015 and again in 2019, he was appointed Minnesota Management & Budget commissioner. During his tenure, Frans led Minnesota to tax reform, public pension reform, repeated budget surpluses and a triple-A credit rating.

Linda Legg retired as senior vice president and general counsel of an AT&T Inc. division. During her 35-year career at AT&T, Legg assisted the business through many dynamic changes, held several leadership positions and received numerous honors. Legg currently serves on the boards of charitable and educational nonprofit organizations in St. Louis. Legg holds KU degrees in history and education (1972) and law (1975). She has served on the KU Law Board of Governors since 2015. For over 30 years, Legg has stressed the importance of teaching professionalism and ethics. She has assisted with programs at both KU Law and the University of Missouri School of Law, her late husband’s alma mater. Students at both law schools have benefited from annual fellowships and scholarships funded by Legg.

Clyde “Butch” Tate retired as a major general from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps in January 2014. Tate’s career in the Army spanned 31 years. Previously the associate general counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation’s Government Affairs, Tate is now the chief counsel of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and a member of the Bureau of Prisons’ Justice Involved Veterans Network. He is a senior adviser to "The Strategic Organization,” a Kansas City management firm supporting the American Bar Association’s project to develop a national center for military and veteran legal support. With a proven commitment to diversity and inclusion, he was awarded the prestigious Hispanic National Bar Association’s Presidential Award for leadership, advocacy and service. Tate graduated from KU Law in 1982.

View previous Distinguished Alumni Award recipients 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 school’s first dean, the medallion recognizes the school’s major financial supporters. This year’s honorees include: