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Ohio Chief Justice to address summer grads

Posted on | August 12, 2009 | 1,206 views |

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer has been selected to speak at Ohio State’s summer quarter commencement.

About 1,900 students will receive degrees during the ceremony at 1 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Schottenstein Center.

A native of Sandusky, Moyer earned his BA and JD degrees from Ohio State in 1961 and 1964. He is serving his fourth term on the Supreme Court. His current term expires Dec. 31, 2010.

Moyer has worked to provide citizens with improved access to the courts through alternative dispute resolution and computer technology. He also is seeking to ensure equal access to the courts through the development of a certification process for interpreters for non-English speakers and the hearing-impaired.

Since Moyer became chief justice in 1987, Ohio has been a leader in providing substance abuse treatment to nonviolent offenders.

He also has worked with leaders of the judiciary and the General Assembly to develop family courts, a comprehensive approach to resolving criminal and civil issues confronting families.

Moyer also helped initiate a national program to train judges in the legal application of matters related to the life sciences, biomedicine, nanotechnology and computer forensics. The effort has developed educational programs in collaboration with the Ohio State Medical Center, the College of Engineering and College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. To date, more than 250 judges from 39 states have completed the requisite training to be certified to hear cases related to advanced scientific legal challenges.

Moyer also works with lawyers and judges in other countries, including Ukraine, China, Korea, Argentina and Chile, as they develop independent judiciaries.

Moyer’s numerous awards include recognition as one of 40 outstanding alumni at Ohio State’s 300th commencement in 1987. He also served as chair of the OSU Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1997-99.

Also during the Aug. 30 ceremony, George Olah, winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree.

Distinguished Service Awards will be given to John Shepherd, a two-time alumnus and chief executive officer of the Shepherd Chemical Co.; and Christine Warner Powell and her late husband, John Warner, whose generous gift provided the new John L. and Christine Warner Library and Student Center at Ohio State’s Newark campus.

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