EUGENE——Rennard Strickland, dean and Knight Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, received the St. Thomas More Award for lifetime contributions to the legal profession.

The award is given annually by St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, for "a national achievement by an outstanding citizen to legal education, the legal profession or to government." Strickland is the 40th recipient.

Previous recipients include the late Leon Jawarski, Watergate special prosecutor; the late Archibald Cox, who served as U.S. solicitor general, Watergate special prosecutor and Harvard law professor; Sister Helen Prejean, anti-death penalty activist and author of "Dead Man Walking"; Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, chief judge at the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; Erwin Griswold, former dean of the Harvard Law School and solicitor general of the United States; and retired Gen. Alexander Haig, former U.S. Secretary of State.

The only Oregonian to receive the award previously was Eugene Scoles, professor and dean emeritus of the UO School of Law.

Strickland is a leading authority on Native American law and the first person in legal education to have served as both president of the Association of American Law Schools and chair of the Law School Admission Council. He became dean of the UO School of Law in 1997.

A legal historian of Osage and Cherokee heritage, Strickland is considered a pioneer in introducing Indian law into the university curriculum, having taught one of the first credited courses in Native American law offered at a U.S. law school. He is the author or editor of more than 35 books and is frequently cited by courts and scholars for his work as editor-in-chief of the revision of "The Handbook of Federal Indian Law."

Strickland was the founding director of the Center for the Study of American Indian Law and Policy at the University of Oklahoma, and the John W. Shleppey Research Professor of Law and History at the University of Tulsa, where he was acting law dean before becoming dean of the School of Law at Southern Illinois University.

He also served as dean at Oklahoma City School of Law and taught American Indian law as a visiting professor or member of the regular faculty at institutions including Harvard Law School and the universities of Washington, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Florida and Kansas.

Strickland has been actively involved in the resolution of a number of significant Indian cases and issues including fishing rights, tribal constitutions, gaming, cross-deputization of tribal law enforcement officers and tribal court actions.

A former member of the board of Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, he is a leader in working to provide access to legal services. He chaired the initial review for the U.S. Department of the Interior of self-governance and tribal contract compacts.

Strickland worked closely with tribes and museums in resolving conflicts over skeletal remains and sacred objects as a member of the American Association of Museums Task Force on Repatriation for Ceremonial Objects and Human Remains. He also served as an adviser to the Panel for National Dialogue on Museum Law and Native American Relations of the Center for Cross Cultural Communications.

Among his honors and awards, Strickland received the American Bar Association’s 1997 Spirit of Excellence Award–the ABA’s highest award for contributions to minorities in the legal profession. He was recognized in 1995 for outstanding achievement by the American Indian Heritage Center; received the Regents’ Award for superior research and creative activity from the University of Oklahoma in 1994; and was cited in 1993 by the Cherokee National Historical Society for his contribution to the study of tribal history.

Strickland received an award of excellence in 1982 from the Western Book Association for his work "A Trumpet of Our Own," as well as the 1978 Society of American Law Teachers annual SALT award for outstanding teaching and contribution to law reform.

Strickland was born in Muskogee, Okla. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern State College, his master’s degree from the University of Arkansas, and doctor of laws (J.D.) and doctor of science of jurisprudence (S.J.D.) degrees, both from the University of Virginia.

A resident of Eugene, he is a philanthropist and collector of American Indian art. Strickland’s gift of artwork to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz., was featured in the traveling exhibit "Shared Visions," which visited the Smithsonian and other major museums including the Portland Art Museum.

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