NEWS

Humphrey, Lancaster, Martens to receive alumni awards

CHAPEL HILL -- Three University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law graduates have been selected to receive alumni awards.

The School of Law will honor Hubert B. Humphrey Jr. of Greensboro and H. Martin Lancaster of Goldsboro with the 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award and Matthew T. Martens of Washington, D.C., with the 2002 Outstanding Recent Graduate Award at the Annual Law Alumni Banquet, which will be held tonight (Nov. 1) in Chapel Hill.

The awards are given annually by the Carolina Law Alumni Association, which supports the mission of the law school by encouraging the involvement of alumni in activities such as alumni affairs, fund raising and public and student relations. Its board governs the School of Law’s private foundation.

The Distinguished Alumni Award was established in 1981 to recognize graduates of the School of Law who have demonstrated excellence in the practice of law, served honorably as members of the judiciary or other elected or appointed office, or otherwise exemplified the highest ideals of the legal profession.

The Outstanding Recent Graduate Award was established this year by the association’s board to honor recent graduates for their extraordinary achievements in bringing credit to the legal profession, society or the School of Law.

A native North Carolinian, Humphrey graduated Order of the Coif from the School of Law in 1951. Following graduation, he clerked for Judge John J. Parker, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. In 1959, Humphrey was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives, becoming the youngest member of the N.C. General Assembly. He then served in the N.C. Senate from 1961 through 1963.

Humphrey has had a distinguished legal career with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP in Greensboro, while maintaining a strong commitment to community service. He has served as a trustee of Wake Forest University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Z.

Smith Reynolds Foundation. Earlier this year, Brooks, Pierce and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation established a N.C. Bar Association Justice Fund in Humphrey’s honor.

A 1967 graduate of the School of Law, Lancaster served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Navy for three years before returning to his hometown of Goldsboro to enter private practice.

Lancaster has had a career dedicated to public service, including eight years as a member in both the N.C. House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives. He also has served as special adviser to the President on chemical weapons and as assistant secretary of the U.S. Army. Since July 1997, Lancaster has served as president of the N.C. Community College System, made up of 59 institutions.

After graduating at the top of his class in 1996, Martens clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle (Class of 1968) on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The following year, clerking for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, he became the sixth School of Law graduate to clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Martens then entered private practice as litigation associate with Latham & Watkins in New Jersey before returning to Washington, D.C., to join the Bush administration as a political appointee in the U.S. Department of Justice. He now serves as chief of staff to the assistant attorney general for the criminal division.

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School of Law contact: Audrey Ward, (919) 962-4125