The 42nd Annual David W. Peck Awards Banquet featured Judge John Daniel Tinder.
Tinder is a recently-retired member of the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
He delivered an address titled, 'Wabash – The Foundation for Public Service: Judge William Woods (Class of 1859), Me and You.'
Tinder has served as a prosecutor, public defender, and federal trial and appellate judge.
Kyle Bender '12 (left) talks with Jacob Burnett '15.
President Gregory Hess (left) and James Dimos '83 prior to dinner.
Mac McNaught '76 (left) chats with Cory Kopitzke '14 (center) and his wife, Keri.
Jon Pactor '71 (left) and Tinder (right) share a moment at the banquet with Jack Kellerman '18 (center).
Andrew Dettmer '15 welcomed the guests.
Jeff Been '81 (third from left) won the Richard O. Ristine Award, presented by (from left) Burnett, Dettmer and Seton Goddard '15.
Professor Scott Himsel '85 presented the Junior Peck Medal.
For the first time in history, the Junior Peck Medal was shared with Burnett (left) and Dettmer (right) receiving the award from Professor Himsel.
Matthew M. Price '09 presented the James E. Bingham Award.
Tyler Hardcastle '15 (right) claimed the Bingham Award.
An overflow crowd filled the Detchon Center for the banquet.
Jacob A. German '11 presented the William Nelson White Scholarship Award.
Zach Mahone '15 (left) earned the honor.
Dustin DeNeal '04 presented the Joseph J. Daniels Award in Constitutional Law to Matthew Binder, who is currently studying abroad.
President Hess Presented the Senior Peck Medal.
Hess (left) and Judge Tinder.
Judge Tinder delivered a thoughtful thank you.
2015 Wabash College Pre-Law Society seniors: Front Row (l to r): Austin Budell, Andrew Dettmer; Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science Scott Himsel, Jacob Burnett, and Seton Goddard. Back Row: Jackson Schroeder, Clayton Lengerich, Zach Mahone, and Tyler Hardcastle.
Spotlighting a lifetime of public service, recently retired federal judge John Daniel Tinder delivered the keynote address Monday at the David W. Peck Lecture and Awards Banquet, the annual Wabash Prelaw Society honors program.
Tinder’s lecture, “Wabash – The Foundation for Public Service: Judge William Woods (Class of 1859), Me and You,” drew parallels between his career and that of Judge Woods, who also served as a prosecutor and a federal trial and appellate judge, and discussed how the Wabash liberal arts education continues to be a launching pad for public service.
“Leadership and service are things that come automatically to you with a background from Wabash and in the law,” said Tinder. “Wherever you go, you will be drawn to leadership. People will look to you because you have analytical skills, are thoughtful, and possess a perspective that’s important to get things done. People look to you for an answer and for help.”
Judge Tinder, who received the Senior Peck Medal for Eminence in the Law, served as a served as a prosecutor, public defender, and federal trial and appellate judge in a lengthy legal career that ended in February. He noted that there are few straight-line paths in the law.
“Careers are very difficult to predict,” Tinder said. “Only when you look backwards from the things that someone like Judge Woods did can you see how those things happened. It took a lot of good, hard work, and there is not a lot of predictability about it. At each stage of his life, he did the best that he could with what was before him and that led to something else. There is a real lesson there.”
According to Tinder, the law presents a never ending array of intellectual, personal, and moral challenges. It’s the kind of hard work that easily grows tiresome, and it really starts when one closes the books in law school.
“Every day presents these arrays of challenges,” he said. “You may get tired, but you will never get bored. It will challenge your mind and challenge you to find a different perspective.”
Tinder’s career started as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana in 1974 and ended as a judge on the Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. In between, he’s served in private practice, the Marion County public defender’s office, and as an adjunct professor at the Indiana University School of Law.
“You have represented the high ideals of the law and judiciary with diligence and integrity; you have gone about your work ethically and with a wry sense of humor,” said Dr. Gregory D. Hess, Wabash College President, in presenting Tinder with the Peck Medal. “The people of Indiana and of the Seventh Circuit are better for your service.”
Prelaw Society award winners were announced as follows:
Richard O. Ristine Law Award: Jeff Been ’81; Executive Director, Legal Aid Society, Louisville, KY
Junior Peck Medal: Jacob Burnett ’15 and Andrew Dettmer ‘15
James E. Bingham Award: Tyler Hardcastle ‘15
William Nelson White Scholarship Award: Zach Mahone ‘15
Joseph J. Daniels Award in Constitutional Law: Matthew Binder ‘16
Senior Peck Medal: Judge John Daniel Tinder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit