The 42nd Annual William Lee Knous Award, which is conferred by the Law Alumni Board of Directors to alumni in recognition of outstanding achievement and sustained service to the law school, will be presented to CU Law Alumnus William J. Hybl on Saturday, Oct. 13.
The ceremony will be the highlight of the Back-to-Boulder festivities at the Fleming Law Building.
Hybl, a Pueblo native and 1967 law school graduate, is chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation, which makes grants for education, health care, the environment, amateur sports, human services and the arts. He serves on the International Olympic Committee, is president emeritus of the U.S. Olympic Committee and helped to raise $500 million for the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Hybl, who has been nominated by President Bush to serve as the United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, has a long and distinguished record of service.
Among the many positions in which he has served with distinction, Hybl was general counsel to the President of the United States for President Reagan, a member of the Colorado State House of Representatives, an assistant district attorney in Colorado Springs (4th Judicial District) and a captain in the U.S. Army.
Hybl has received numerous awards including the 1996 Distinguished Service Award from the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Colorado Springs; the 1992 Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement from the CU-Boulder Law School; and the 1999 Frank T. Cary Award for significant leadership at the local and national levels.
Hybl's generosity, dedication and service have improved the lives of many at CU and across the nation. School of Law Dean Hal Bruff said, "Back in August, when the Law Alumni Board selected Bill Hybl as the Knous Award recipient, I thought of how fortunate our school, and the university as a whole, was to have him counted among our many eminent alumni.
"Now, at this critical time, I think of how fortunate our nation is, that President Bush selected Bill as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly," said Dean Bruff. "Bill has distinguished himself throughout his career as a true international leader, a man of keen insight and solid judgment. I'm proud to know him and reassured that he will again be representing our country in this important role."
The CU School of Law's highest honor is named in memory of William Lee Knous, a 1911 law school graduate and the only person to serve in the highest leadership position in each branch of Colorado's government: as governor, chief justice of the Supreme Court and president of the Senate. He also served as a judge in the United States District Court.