Alumni Hall of Fame

The College of Law Hall of Fame Award is the highest award presented by the UK Law Alumni Association. It is awarded with great care to former faculty who have taught at the UK College of Law for at least 20 years as well as alumni who have distinguished themselves by contributions that they have made in their own particular field of work, or in the betterment of humanity.

2007 Inductees Announced

Dean Allan Vestal announced the 2007 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees at a reception in conjunction with the Kentucky Bar Association convention in Louisville on June 20, 2007. The formal induction will be held in September. The three inductees are Judge Karen K. Caldwell of Lexington, Senior Judge Roger L. Crittenden of Frankfort, and former Ashland Inc. executive Richard W. Spears of Ashland.

• Karen K. Caldwell, Class of 1980
  A jurist of distinction, Karen K. Caldwell is United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Judge Caldwell graduated with the Class of 1980, which included one of the largest percentages of female graduates at that point in the law school’s history. After seven years with State Farm Insurance, she became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky and within five years was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky where she was widely recognized for her role in combating public corruption. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2001, she was a partner in the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP.

  Before taking the bench, Judge Caldwell served as Chair of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Publication Committee; the editor of Bench & Bar Magazine; and a member of the Character and Fitness Committee of the Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners. Judge Caldwell serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership Kentucky and Transylvania University’s Board of Trustees. 

  In 1995, Judge Caldwell received Kentucky’s Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Kentucky Bar Association. In 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree from Transylvania University and in 2007, she received the Outstanding Alumnus of Kentucky Award from the Kentucky Counsel on Post Secondary Education and the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education.

• Roger L. Crittenden, Class of 1975
  A highly respected judge of integrity, Roger L. Crittenden has given a lifetime of service to the Commonwealth and to the UK College of Law. After three years of service in the U.S. Army including a tour in Vietnam, Crittenden graduated with the Class of 1975 and launched his career in public service at the Kentucky Cabinet for Human Resources and the Kentucky Council on Higher Education. In 1980 he was elected as Franklin County District Court Judge where he served for 12 years before being elected as Franklin County Circuit Court Judge in 1992. He retired in 2006 and is Senior Judge of the Franklin Circuit Court.

  Committed to education, Judge Crittenden has served as chair of the Circuit Judges Association Education Committee and is a former board chair of PUSH Infant Pre-School. Judge Crittenden also served the UK College of Law as an adjunct writing instructor for 26 years. He completed his final semester of teaching this spring and was honored by having one of the legal writing groups – three of which are titled after figures such as Clay, Cardozzo and Marshall – named after him.

• Richard W. Spears, Class of 1961
  A civic and corporate leader, Richard W. Spear’s commitment to improving education in the Commonwealth has impacted generations of Kentucky students. A native of Ashland, Ky., Spears joined Ashland Oil, Inc. as a staff attorney in 1964. He rose through the ranks from deputy counsel in 1975 to vice president in 1976; then administrative vice president in 1976 and senior vice president, law and human resources in 1980 until his retirement in 1992. Spears is a past president of the Boyd County Bar Association and a past member of The Conference Board’s Chief Administrative Officers’ Council.

  During his tenure with Ashland Oil, Spears spent a considerable amount of time promoting education in Kentucky as president of the board of Ashland Public Education, Inc. which raised significant moneys to enhance education at all levels in Kentucky. He served on the boards of Northern Kentucky University and Georgetown College, and is a University of Kentucky fellow. Through Spears’s leadership, Ashland Oil established the Ashland Inc. Legal Scholars Program that provides two needs-based full scholarships to students at the College of Law each year. They also established two Ashland Oil Professorships at the College of Law during Spear’s tenure.