William O'Kelley ('51C, '53L) and John Stephenson ('70C) received the Emory Medal – the highest alumni honor awarded by the University at a ceremony on Oct. 7 – for their service to their communities and to Emory.
"We look at the Emory Medal as the highest award that an alum or alumna can receive at Emory," Senior Director of the Alumni Association Leslie Wingate said. "We compare it to a lifetime achievement award for an alum."
First awarded in 1946, the medal is awarded annually and recognizes alumni for service to Emory, community or public service or professional achievement, according to Wingate.
The Nominating and Leadership Committee of the Emory Alumni Board selects the medalists from a pool of nominees, Wingate said. Anyone can nominate an alumni for the medal.
"The people who get them are really people who have made a huge impact through service to Emory," Wingate said. "Or it may be someone who may not even be that connected to Emory, but has [made] a huge impact in their community"
Wingate said O'Kelley and Stephenson had provided significant service to both Emory and beyond.
O'Kelley is a senior United States district judge for the Northern District of Georgia and has been appointed by former Chief Justice William Rehnquist and current Chief Justice John Roberts to the Alien Terrorist Removal Court for successive five-year terms, according to an Emory Alumni Association announcement.
According to the announcement, O'Kelley has previously received the Emory Law School's Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Significant Sig Award from the national Sigma Chi fraternity which recognizes "those alumni members whose achievements in their fields of endeavor have brought honor and prestige to the name of Sigma Chi." Additionally, O'Kelley has served on the Law Advisory Committee and the Emory Board of Trustees.
O'Kelley has hired Emory law students as law clerks who created the Judge William C. O'Kelley Endowed Scholarship Fund in his honor, the announcement said.
Wingate said that O'Kelley had previously received many nominations for the award and described him as "incredibly deserving."
Stephenson is the executive director of the J. Bulow Campbell Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation that awards grants in education, human services, youth development, arts and cultural institutions and Christian-based charities, according to the announcement.
"I was completely taken back and extremely honored to receive the Emory Medal," Stephenson said. "In my acceptance remarks, I tried to emphasize how important Emory has been to me and to others who gain from the experience of being on campus during one's formative years and beyond."
The announcement said that before joining the Campbell Foundation in 1985, Stephenson served Emory for 12 years as Assistant to the President, Secretary of the University and Vice President.
Stephenson was named one of the 175 Emory Makers of History, an award marking Emory's 175th anniversary in 2011 and recognizing 175 men and women, mostly alumni, who contributed significantly to the University.
As a student, Stephenson was president of the Kappa Alpha fraternity, president of the Emory's Men's Glee Club and one of the founding members of Ad Hoc Productions, Emory's only musical theater student group. He was also a member of Emory's Senior Society (D.V.S.) and has maintained a relationship with current D.V.S. members and alumni, according to the announcement.
The awards were presented at a well-attended dinner – with approximately 160 guests – held at the Miller-Ward Alumni House, Wingate said.
"[The awards dinner] reassured everyone that Emory values its people and continues to enrich the community and the lives of all that pass through its gates as students, faculty, trustees, staff and alumni," Stephenson said.
Wingate said that she felt the Emory Medal not only recognizes the achievements of alumni, but also presents the award recipients as models for current students.
"It's great for students to see what alumni can become and what students can aspire to become," she said.
-- By Lizzie Howell, Managing Editor
