W.H. Thompson
Alumni Center
University of
Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE
68182-0010
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Dec. 16, 2000
Contact: Anthony Flott
aflott@mail.unomaha.edu
(402)
554-2989
General, Judge receive UNO Alumni Citation
(OMAHA,
NE) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)
Alumni Association bestowed its Citation for Alumnus Achievement on Lt. Gen.
Russell C. Davis and Nebraska District Court Judge Patricia A. Lamberty during
the university’s winter commencement Friday, Dec. 15, at the Omaha Civic
Auditorium.
The citation, instituted in 1949, is presented
each year at UNO’s spring, summer and winter commencements to graduates who has
achieved distinction in their careers.
Davis and Lamberty become the 104th and 105th recipients, respectively,
of the award. Previous recipients
include current U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (1989), former senator James J. Exon
(1974), U.S. Army Four-Star General Johnnie Wilson (1998) and longtime UNO
figure William H. Thompson (1960).
Kathleen Olson, 2000 UNO Alumni Association Chairman of
the Board, presented the awards. Backgrounds of the two recipients follow.
Lt. Gen. Russell C.
Davis
A 1963 UNO alumnus, Davis is chief of the United States
National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va. As chief, he serves as the senior
uniformed National Guard officer responsible for formulating, developing and
coordinating all policies, programs and plans affecting more than half a
million Army and Air National Guard personnel. Appointed by the president, the
general serves as the principal adviser to the secretary and chief of staff of
the Army, and the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force on all National
Guard issues. As NGB chief, he serves as the Army's and Air Force's official
channel of communication with the governors and adjutants general.
Davis began his military career in the U.S. Air Force in
1958 as an aviation cadet. Following pilot training, he was assigned to Lincoln
Air Force Base in Nebraska. He attended UNO through its military Bootstrapper
program, eventually earning a bachelor of arts degree in general education. He
was released from active duty in April 1965, when he joined the Iowa Air
National Guard in Des Moines. In 1969 he earned a juris doctor degree from
Drake University. Davis has served in numerous command and staff positions,
from squadron pilot to director of operations. He commanded the 113th Tactical
Fighter Wing prior to being appointed the commanding general of the District of
Columbia. He was appointed vice chief of the National Guard Bureau in December
1995.
Davis also has received numerous awards and decorations,
including the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf
cluster, and the NAACP Roy Wilkins Achievement Award.
Patricia A. Lamberty
Lamberty was appointed a judge in Nebraska’s fourth
judicial district in July 1998. The district is a 16-judge general jurisdiction
court with jurisdiction over felony criminal matters, civil cases, domestic
relations cases and appeals from Douglas County Court, administrative agencies
and tribunals.
Lamberty earned a bachelor’s degree in public
administration from UNO in 1976. Three years later she received her jurist
doctor degree from Creighton University School of Law and was admitted to the
Nebraska State Bar.
While attending Creighton School of Law Lamberty clerked
for Zwieback, Brady, Kasher & Festerson, P.C. For the next 14 years she
continued with the firm, which exclusively practiced general litigation,
including business litigation and complex divorce actions involving valuation
of closely held businesses, child custody disputes, contempt proceedings,
protection orders and paternity cases.
From 1993 to 1998 Lamberty was sole practitioner in
Lamberty P.C. Her practice consisted primarily of mediating and/or arbitrating
disputes in family law, business and securities disputes and employment
discrimination.
Lamberty is active in numerous professional organizations
and community groups, including the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s
Board of Counselors, the Academy of Family Mediators, the Nebraska and Omaha
Bar Associations, the Women’s Fund of Greater Omaha, Girl’s Inc., and the
Governor’s Child Support Enforcement Study Committee. She’s also received
numerous awards, most recently becoming an honorary member of the Pi Alpha
Alpha, National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. In 1999
she received a Legal Pioneer Award from the Nebraska State Bar Foundation, a
Woman of Distinction Award for Professions as presented by the YWCA and a Woman
of Distinction Award from the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women.
