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Judge Tinder to Receive Peck Medal

Wabash President Gregory Hess announced that he has selected Judge John Daniel Tinder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit as the 2015 recipient of the David W. Peck Senior Medal for Eminence in the Law. 

“Judge Tinder has modeled public service at the highest level for decades as a prosecutor, public defender, federal district judge, and federal appellate judge,” President Hess noted. “He is well respected by our alumni lawyers and provides a great role model for our students who aspire to become lawyers and public servants.” 

Judge Tinder will visit campus to deliver a lecture at 5:00 p.m. on April 13, 2015, and will receive the Senior Peck Medal thereafter at the 42nd Annual Peck Dinner. 

Wabash alumnus John Collett ’24 established the Peck Medal to honor his fraternity brother Judge David W. Peck ’22, who practiced law for many years at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City and also served as presiding justice of the courts in Manhattan and the Bronx.   

For over four decades, the Peck Dinner has provided a unique opportunity for Wabash students interested in the law to meet lawyer alumni and to benefit from the wisdom of the Senior Peck Medal recipient.

“Judge Tinder’s career is an inspiration to Wabash men aspiring to be lawyers,” said Rick Cavanaugh ’76, who is Associate General Counsel at Duke Energy Corporation. “His service as a state and federal prosecutor, private practitioner and federal trial judge demonstrates that integrity, hard work, intelligence and dedication to improving the profession may take you all the way the U.S. Court of Appeals bench. Judge Tinder’s reputation for fairness and treating all who came before him with dignity, even if they didn’t deserve it, has earned him the respect of the bench and the bar.”

RSVPs must be made by April 6. Please contact to Pam Sacco (saccop@wabash.edu) to register for the dinner. The cost is $25 per person ($18 for alumni in law school or recently graduated from law school).