May 14, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. – Frank E. Stevenson II, a member of Amherst College’s Class of 1977, will receive the school’s Medal for Eminent Service during its commencement exercises Sunday, May 24. The award is presented to a member of the Amherst community who has demonstrated extraordinary devotion to the college.

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Frank Stevenson II ’77
Stevenson has served his alma mater in several ways. Currently the president of the Class of 1977, he has also been the class’s secretary, vice president and 25th reunion chair. He has been chair of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Council, an inauguration delegate, an admission officer and a member of the Alumni Fund Committee. For helping to seek out promising prospective students, hosting alumni events and welcoming travelers from the Amherst community into his home in Dallas, Texas, he has been called the college’s “gateway to the Southwest.”

In a letter notifying him of the honor, Amherst College President Anthony W. Marx said the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to award him the Medal in recognition of his “outstanding contributions to the life of the college over many years.” “We remain grateful for your insight, thoughtful advice and warmth you have brought to all your interactions with the college—as a loyal alumnus, an Amherst parent, an enthusiastic fundraiser and as chair of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Council,” he wrote. “We appreciate your service to the college all the more because you made time for Amherst while excelling in a demanding profession and giving selflessly of your time and resources to your local community. You embody the ideals of the Amherst education.”

In addition to being a dedicated alumnus, Stevenson is an Amherst parent: his daughter Louise will graduate with the Class of 2009. His older daughter, Caroline ’06, two of his sisters and his niece have all attended the college, too. “Over a period of four decades, there has been a Stevenson at Amherst more years than not,” he has said. “As a result, Amherst seems to enrich and enfold me longer than I could have ever expected—the shared experiences of loved ones prolonging and deepening my own.” 

Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Stevenson graduated magna cum laude from Amherst before earning a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. He recently completed his term as president of the Dallas Bar Association, and is a fellow in the American, Texas and Dallas Bar Associations. Now a partner with Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP, practicing administrative, transportation, real estate and finance law, Stevenson has been honored with a 2005 Equal Justice Award and a 2008 Pro Bono Appreciation Award from Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, as well as recognitions for establishing a legal internship program for disadvantaged high school students.

Each year, the Amherst College Board of Trustees, in consultation with the secretary of the Society of the Alumni, selects a recipient for the Medal of Eminent Service, which is awarded at Amherst’s commencement ceremony. The medal was established in 1934 as a means of recognizing exceptional and distinguished service to the college for a great period of time, often in a variety of areas.
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