Baylor Lawyer of the Year
The Baylor Lawyer of the Year Award is given annually to an outstanding alumnus/a who has brought honor and distinction to the Law School and the legal profession. Recipients are selected based on the following criteria: the nominee's legal ability and achievements as a lawyer; the nominee's contributions to the legal profession; the nominee's standing in the profession; the nominee's Christian character; the nominee's civic, and religious and other attainments; and the nominee's active interest in Baylor Law.
Recipients of the Baylor Lawyer of the Year Award
2023 - Dean Brad Toben
2022 - Michael Heiskell
2021 - Professor Jerry Powell
2020 - Ike Vanden Eykel
2019 - Lewis R. Sifford
2018 - J. Rodney Gilstrap
Nominations
Baylor Law accepts nominations annually for the Baylor Lawyer of the Year. The Executive Committee of the Baylor Law Alumni Association will review all materials received for each nominee.
To submit a nomination for the 2025 Baylor Lawyer of the Year, please send a nomination letter describing comprehensively why the nominee meets all the criteria, to:
Interim Dean Patricia Wilson
Email: patricia_wilson@baylor.edu
Or by Mail: Baylor Law
One Bear Place #97288
Waco, Texas 76798
Previous Recipients
2017 - Murray Watson Jr.
2016 - T. Albert Witcher
2015 - Jerry K. Clements
2014 - Bill Brian
2013 - David M. Guinn
2012 - Leonard E. Davis
2011 - Steve McConnico
2010 - Ed Kinkeade
2009 - George Chandler
2008 - Joe E. Coleman
2007 - Sam R. Cummings
2006 - Noley R. Bice, Jr.
2005 - Wyatt H. Heard
2004 - T. John Ward
2003 - Turner W. Branch
2002 - John Eddie Williams
2001 - Harold Nix
2000 - Louis Muldrow
1999 - Walter Umphrey
1998 - Gordon L. Hollon
1997 - James M. "Jim" Farris
1996 - Jack Hightower
1995 - John T. Boyd
1994 - Bob Bullock
1993 - Bill Logue
1992 - Rex Houston
1991 - Sam B. Hall, Jr.
1990 - Edwin P. Horner
1989 - George M. Cowden
1988 - William S. Sessions
1987 - R. Matt Dawson
1986 - Robert Maurice Campbell
1985 - Bill D. Daniel
1984 - Angus S. McSwain, Jr.
1983 - Wayne Fisher
1982 - Clarence A. Guittard
1981 - John H. Minton, Jr.
1980 - Cullen Smith
1979 - Howard F. Saunders
1978 - Connally McKay
1977 - William J. Boswell
1976 - Claude Williams
1975 - Gibson Gayle, Jr.
1974 - Jim D. Bowner
1973 - Truman E. Roberts
1972 - Charles W. Barrow
1971 - W.R. "Bob" Poage
1970 - Morris Harrell
1969 - Thomas C. Mann
1968 - Frank M. Wilson
1967 - Victor W. Bouldin
1966 - Abner V. McCall
1965 - M. Price Daniel
1964 - Leon Jaworski
1963 - A.J. Folley
