There are a number of honors and awards delivered at the annual Peck Lecture and Awards Banquet every year. Wabash’s President awards the Senior Peck Medal for Eminence in the Law to the invited lecturer. The faculty pre-law committee awards the Junior Peck Medal to the most outstanding pre-law senior. The James E. Bingham Award was established by members of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum in memory of James E. Bingham [W1911], given each year to one or more distinguished seniors who plan to enroll in law school. The faculty pre-law committee also awards the Joseph J. Daniels Prize in Constitutional Law to a student who excels in the study of Constitutional Law at Wabash. Finally, the Richard O. Ristine Award is presented by the Wabash Pre-Law Society in honor of Richard O. Ristine [W1941] to one or more individuals in recognition of their contributions to Wabash and the practice of the law.
Check out brief histories of the awards and lists of all winners below.
James E. Bingham Award
The James E. Bingham Award was established by members of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum in memory of James E. Bingham [W1911], given each year to one or more distinguished seniors who plan to enroll in law school.
James E. Bingham Award Winners
- 1988 – Michael D. Ramsey, Douglas S. Swetnam
- 1989 – Michael E. Hatchett, Scott R. Alexander
- 1990 – Patrick B. McEuen, Matthew C. Breman
- 1991 – John M. Olivieri, Allen L. Messer
- 1992 – Kenyatta L. Brame, Christopher J. Worden
- 1993 – David W. Barrett, Timothy F. Brewer
- 1994 – Patrick T. Mulry, Matthew S. Brim
- 1995 – Brian T. Henry, Kevin S. Thomas
- 1996 – William A. Hahn III, Christopher A. Perrin
- 1997 – Stephen R. Creason, Brian E. Bailey
- 1998 – Andrew J. Rankin, Travis D. Merrill
- 1999 – Joseph M. Smiddy, Joshua L. Twombley
- 2000 – Adam F. Packer, John F. W. Fleming
- 2001 – James R. Lisher, John C. Wright
- 2002 – Phillip A. Garrett, Ryan K. Clougherty
- 2003 – Adam D. Christensen, Joshua S. Tatum
- 2004 – Daniel L. McClamroch, Alexander J. Barefoot
- 2005 – D. Matthew Tanney
- 2006 – Aaron M. Cook, Zachary J. Mulholland
- 2007 – Keith E. Clayton II, Daniel K. Shirey
- 2008 – Patrick Smith, Kyle McClammer
- 2009 – James B. Horrey, John P. Higgins
- 2010 – Aaron Bonar, John Henry
- 2011 – Michael Nossett, Graham Youngs
- 2012 – Kyle Bender, Steve Henke
- 2013 – Jeremy McDonald, Trevor Poe
- 2014 – Scott Campbell
- 2015 – Tyler Hardcastle
- 2016 – Adam M. Alexander, Derek M. Andre
- 2017 – Zac Maciejewski, Harrison Schafer, Daniel Thompson
- 2018 – Michael Lumpkin, Braden Quackenbush
- 2019 – William Amberger, Ian Finley
- 2020 – Colten Garland, Christian Redmond
- 2021 – Matthew Chinn, Joseph Deiser
- 2022 – Miles Clutter, Joseph Forchetti
- 2023 – Brayden Lentz, Bryce McCullough, Collin Kinniry
- 2024 – Cole Bergman, Jackson Grabill, Samuel Hooton, Thomas Joven
Richard O. Ristine Law Award
The Richard O. Ristine Law Award is presented by the Wabash Pre-Law Society in honor of Richard O. Ristine [W1941] to one or more individuals in recognition of their contributions to Wabash and the practice of the law.
Richard O. Ristine Law Award Winners
- 1997 – Edward B. McLean, Matthew A. Griffith ’89, and Jon R. Pactor ’71
- 1998 – F. Bradford Johnson ’71, Richard S. Pitts ’83
- 1999 – David M. Timmerman, Joseph F. Pieters ’89
- 2000 – Roger D. Billings, Jr. ’59, George T. Patton, Jr. ’84
- 2001 – Christopher J. Worden ’92
- 2003 – Scott D. Himsel ’85, Todd F. McDorman
- 2004 – Thomas M. Fisher ’91
- 2006 – Glen H. Helman
- 2007 – R. Scott Crawford, William J. Fisher III ’66
- 2008 – Greg Castanias ’87
- 2010 – James Dimos ’83
- 2011 – David E. Kendall ’66
- 2012 – Jane Ann Himsel, Steve Creason ’97
- 2014 – Lloyd T. Wilson ’77
- 2015 – Jeffrey A. Been ’81
- 2017 – Stephen S. Bowen ’68
- 2018 – William J. Reinke ’52, Robert L. Reinke ’55
- 2023 – Jeffrey Drury
- 2024 – Pam Sacco
Senior and Junior Peck Medal Recipients
Wabash’s President awards the Senior Peck Medal for Eminence in the Law to the invited lecturer, and the faculty’s pre-law committee awards the Junior Peck Medal to the most outstanding pre-law senior.
Senior Peck Medal Recipients
- 1974 – Cleon Foust
- 1975 – Bethuel Webster
- 1976 – William D. Ruckelshaus
- 1977 – Whitney N. Seymour
- 1978 – Harold A. Stevens
- 1979 – Victor G. Rosenblum
- 1980 – Paul H. Buchanan, Jr.
- 1981 – Byron P. Hollett ’36
- 1982 – Richard D. Cudahy
- 1983 – Thomas M. Lofton
- 1984 –William F. Harvey
- 1985 – William I. Garrard ’54
- 1986 – Richard O. Ristine ’41
- 1987 – Charles E. Rice
- 1988 – Thomas K. Milligan ’63
- 1989 – Sarah Evans Barker
- 1990 – James E. Bond, Jr. ’43
- 1991 – Bruce A. Polizotto ’63
- 1992 – Pasco Bowman III
- 1993 – Roger D. Billings, Jr. ’59
- 1994 – David N. Shane ’70
- 1995 – Richard Epstein
- 1996 – Vincent F. Grogg ’55
- 1997 – Frank M. Rasmussen ’56
- 1998 – Timothy A. Guiden ’82
- 1999 – Robert George
- 2000 – Dock McDowell, Jr. ’72
- 2001 – Richard Neely
- 2002 – Randall T. Shepard
- 2003 – Edward B. McLean
- 2004 – David E. Kendall ’66
- 2005 – Theodore R. Boehm
- 2006 – John T. Noonan, Jr.
- 2007 – Geoffrey R. Stone
- 2008 – Stephen L. Carter
- 2009 – Morris Dees
- 2010 – John R. Crook ’69
- 2011 – Bryan Stevenson
- 2012 – William Neukom
- 2013 – David Hamilton
- 2014 – Thomas B. Griffith
- 2015 – John Daniel Tinder
- 2016 – Kenneth J. Falk
- 2017 – Diane P. Wood
- 2018 – Diane Sykes
- 2019 – John Ryder ’71
- 2021 – Kenji Yoshino
- 2022 – Michelle Browdy
- 2023 – Thomas Fisher ’91
- 2024 – Richard Hasen
Junior Peck Medal Recipients
- 1974 – Michael Eckerle
- 1975 – Robert Chamness
- 1976 – Harry F. McNaught, Jr.
- 1977 – David K. Herzog
- 1978 – William W. Hall II
- 1979 – Alan L. McLaughlin
- 1980 – Ronald J. Rychlak
- 1981 – David D. Welch
- 1982 – Mark A. Garvin
- 1983 – Lyndall J. Huggler
- 1984 – John M. Barr
- 1985 – Scott D. Himsel
- 1986 – Eric L. Hiser
- 1987 – Benjamin P. Beringer
- 1988 – William C. Ahrbecker
- 1989 – Michael E. Hatchett
- 1990 – Matthew C. Breman
- 1991 – Brian L. Burdick
- 1992 – William E. Padgett
- 1993 – Bradley T. Gerstner
- 1994 – Matthew S. Brim
- 1995 – Kyle D. Rettburg
- 1996 – Kevin P. Ferguson
- 1997 – Jason E. Jackson
- 1998 – Andrew L. Naugle
- 1999 – Albert Z. Kovacs
- 2000 – Andrew J. Reitz
- 2001 – Phillip W. Nelson
- 2002 – Nicholas L. White
- 2003 – Nicholas A. Roersma
- 2004 – Dustin R. DeNeal
- 2005 – David J. Pryzbylski
- 2006 – Jacob G. Straub
- 2007 – Joseph C. Cooper
- 2008 – Jackson Price
- 2009 – Sean N. Clerget
- 2010 – Alexander Ingram
- 2011 – Grant Schmutte
- 2012 – Tim Markey
- 2013 – Riley Floyd
- 2014 – Cory Kopitzke
- 2015 – Jacob Burnett & Andrew Dettmer
- 2016 – Matthew D. Binder
- 2017 – Benjamin Wade
- 2018 – Jack Kellerman
- 2019 – Erich Lange
- 2020 – Nathan Gray
- 2021 – John Vermeulen
- 2022 – Kwaku Sarpong
- 2023 – Cooper Smith
- 2024 – Seth Kirkpatrick