May 4, 1998 Contact Maureen Shine (541) 346-3145 EUGENE--Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, a former state representative and a 1964 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law, will receive the law school's 1998 Meritorious Service Award. The Meritorious Service Award is given by the UO law faculty in recognition of outstanding service to the administration of justice and legal education in Oregon. It will be presented at the law school's commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, in the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Centre. Myers, 58, was elected Oregon attorney general in November 1996. Previously, he was in private law practice from 1965-96 with Stoel Rives, LLP, and its predecessor firms, specializing in labor and employment and government affairs law. Following graduation from the UO law school, Myers was a clerk to U.S. District Judge William G. East. Myers' public service includes 10 years in the Oregon House of Representatives, to which he was elected in 1975 to serve parts of northeast and southeast Portland. He was speaker of the house from 1979-83 and chair of the judiciary committee from 1977-83 and again from 1983-84. In surveys of legislative observers, Myers was rated most outstanding member of the Oregon Legislature in The Oregonian in 1979 and 1981, as well as most outstanding metro area state representative in Willamette Week in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983. In other elected service, he was a councilor for the Metropolitan Service District from 1985-86. Myers also served on the Oregon State Bar Committee on Continuing Legal Education, was co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on State Employee Compensation and chair of the Governor's Task Force on State Employee Benefits. He also chaired the Metro Charter Committee, the Portland Future Focus strategic planning process, the Citizens' Task Force on Mass Transit Policy, the Oregon Jail Project and the Oregon Criminal Justice Council. In addition, Myers was a member of the Commission on the Judicial Branch and president of the Portland City Planning Commission. A native of Electric Mills, Miss., Myers was educated in public schools in Bend and Prineville. He received his bachelor of arts degree with distinction from the University of Mississippi in 1961. Myers is married to Mary Ann Thalhofer and the couple has three children. -30- #G-4089/Local,OrDailies,OrLaw,Special