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Professor James P. White and his wife, Anna Seim White, received honorary degrees from Butler University during commencement on December 17. IU McKinney Law Visiting Professor Randall T. Shepard delivered the commencement address, and also was presented with an honorary degree.

Professor White received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree in recognition of his service as a Butler University Trustee. Anna Seim White received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of her service to the Indianapolis arts community. Professor Shepard was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree in commemoration of his service on the Indiana Supreme Court.

Professor White joined the faculty at IU McKinney in 1966. From 1974 to 2000, he also served as Consultant on Legal Education to the American Bar Association (ABA), where he directed legal education activities and oversaw the accreditation of law schools; he now serves as Consultant Emeritus. The James P. White Lecture on Legal Education at IU McKinney was established at the law school in Professor White’s honor the year he retired from his consultancy. He has served as a Butler trustee since 2004. In the photo at left, Professor White and Anna Seim White are honored by Butler University.

Anna Seim White is a longtime leader in the Indianapolis and Indiana arts communities. For over 25 years, she served as executive director of Young Audiences of Indianapolis, bringing arts education to thousands of children. She has also served on the board of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and as president of the Orchestra Women’s Committee. She has been an active volunteer at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), where she is a life trustee, a former member of the Board of Governors, and the first woman to chair that board.

Professor Shepard retired from the Indiana Supreme Court, where he served as Chief Justice, in 2012. During his 25-year tenure on the state’s high court, he implemented programs that created plain English jury instructions, minimum standards for death penalty representation, mandatory continuing legal education for lawyers, and projects to increase the number of minority lawyers, among other achievements. In the photo at right, Professor Shepard delivers the commencement address at Butler University.