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Six new members joined Stetson University College of Law’s Hall of Fame on Oct. 11 during an induction ceremony on the law school’s Gulfport campus. Stetson Law’s Hall of Fame now includes 46 members. Four of this year’s inductees are graduates of the law school.

“We are very pleased to honor six individuals this year who have had both a profound impact on the legal profession and on Stetson University College of Law,” said Stetson Law Vice President and Dean Darby Dickerson.

» Watch Videos for 2008 Hall of Fame Inductees

This year’s Hall of Fame inductees include:

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Dorothy Bishop

Dorothy Bishop worked at Stetson University College of Law for 48 years before retiring in 2004. During nearly five decades of service, she worked for six deans and witnessed Stetson’s rise as a national leader in legal education.

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S. Sammy Cacciatore ’66

Sammy Cacciatore has devoted his entire legal career to fighting for the rights of individuals. Cacciatore is a partner in the Melbourne-based law firm of Nance, Cacciatore, Hamilton, Barger, Nance, Cacciatore. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Stetson University. He has served as a Stetson University trustee and on the Stetson College of Law Board of Overseers.

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Doyle Carlton Sr.

Doyle Carlton Sr. served as Governor of Florida during the Great Depression and helped the state survive one of its most difficult times in history. He graduated from Stetson University in 1909 and went on to become a senior statesman, esteemed attorney and founding partner of Carlton Fields. Carlton also served as a Stetson University trustee for more than four decades and on the Stetson  College  of Law  Board of Overseers for  20 years.

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William Gillespie ’56

After graduating from Stetson University College of Law, William Gillespie joined his father’s law practice and later served in both the Florida House of Representatives and the Senate. He helped pass the Government in the Sunshine Law, the coastal setback-line revision of the Florida Constitution, the Environmental Land and Water Management Act, probate reform, and numerous educational initiatives. He was a member of the Stetson  College  of Law  Board of Overseers for eight years.

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Rhea Law ’79

After graduating from Stetson University College of Law, Rhea Law worked her way up in Fowler White Boggs Banker to become the first female president and CEO of a large Florida law firm in 2001. Law was named one of the top five women business leaders in Florida by the Commonwealth Institute in June 2008. She was named one of Florida’s most influential people by Florida Trend magazine and Businesswoman of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in 2004. Law has served on the Stetson College of Law Board of Overseers and was instrumental in the law school’s Cornerstone fundraising campaign.

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E.V. Vane McClurg ’69

Vane McClurg was elected to serve on the board of directors of Publix Supermarkets in 1988 and continues in that role. He is chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Nominating Committee. McClurg has been a strong supporter of community organizations in Lakeland including the Boy’s Club, the Lakeland Regional Medical Center Foundation, Florida Southern College, Stetson Law, and many others.

Contact Frank Klim
Communications Office
727-562-7889

Contact Frank Klim
Executive Director of Communications
727-562-7889

Tampa Bay, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law inducted six new members into its Hall of Fame during a gala ceremony on Sept. 23 at its Gulfport campus. The Hall of Fame now includes 32 members.

“All of these individuals have reached the pinnacle of their professions and have affected a profound, positive influence on Stetson University College of Law,” said Dean Darby Dickerson.

This year’s inductees include:

• Dorothy “Dotti” Bressi

Dr. Dorothy Bressi worked almost six years at Stetson University College of Law as Associate Vice President of College Relations before she died on July 2, 2006, following complications from leukemia. During her time at Stetson, she led the successful Cornerstone Campaign, which raised more than $30 million in five years. She was instrumental in increasing student scholarships, awards, new faculty chairs, professorships and research programs.

• Justice Carol W. Hunstein ’76

The Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and 1976 graduate of Stetson Law, Carol Hunstein is a compelling role model for those attempting to overcome adversity. By the age of eleven, she had battled cancer and polio and then saw her mother die. At age 23, she was a divorced, single mother who had just lost a leg from returning cancer. In 1984, she was elected the first female Superior Court Judge in DeKalb County, Ga. In 1992, Georgia’s governor nominated her as only the second female Supreme Court Justice in the state. During her years on the bench, she has been a tireless champion of racial, ethnic and gender equality. Her work created Georgia’s state and local domestic violence task forces and countless training programs for judges, lawyers and court personnel.

• Congressman E. Clay Shaw Jr. ’66

Congressman E. Clay Shaw Jr. has represented South Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. After 25 years in Congress, Shaw is the second-most senior Republican on the Committee on Ways and Means, and the next in line to become chair of the full committee. Stetson University awarded him the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1984 and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws in 2002.

• J. Ben Watkins ’49

Attorney J. Ben Watkins has actively practiced law since graduating from Stetson University College of Law in 1949. Watkins has been a lifelong supporter of Stetson, graciously donating his resources, expertise and time. He served on the law school’s board of overseers for more than two decades during times of tremendous expansion and academic growth at the Gulfport campus.

• John R. Wood ’51

A Sarasota lawyer and municipal judge, John Wood practiced law for 55 years before retiring in 2006. He specialized in legal work for financial institutions and volunteered thousands of hours of pro bono service. While serving in World War II he was in the Bataan Death March and was a prisoner of war for 42 months. After the war, Wood attended Stetson University College of Law. A fellow POW, General Jonathon Wainwright, presented Wood with his law degree upon graduating from Stetson in 1951.

• J. Lamar Woodard

J. Lamar Woodard, professor and law librarian emeritus, joined Stetson University College of Law in 1971. Under his guidance, the library grew from a collection of 61,000 volumes and a small staff to a new facility with over 366,000 volumes, seven full-time librarians and 10 staff members.

To learn more about Stetson’s Hall of Fame, please visit:

http://justice.law.stetson.edu/HallofFame/2006_inductees.asp.

Contact Frank Klim
Executive Director of Communications
727-562-7889

Gulfport, Fla. – Stetson University College of Law inducted 10 new alumni, faculty and friends into its Hall of Fame recently. The Hall of Fame now includes 28 members.

“All of these individuals have reached the pinnacle of their professions and have affected a profound positive influence on Stetson University College of Law,” said Dean Darby Dickerson.

This year’s inductees include:

William R. Eleazer
Professor William R. Eleazer served 25 years on the faculty of Stetson Law. During his tenure, he built Stetson’s nationally recognized, number one ranked trial advocacy program. The William R. Eleazer courtroom, the nation’s first elder friendly courtroom, was dedicated in his honor on Sept. 16.

E. Harris Drew
Justice Drew, class of 1923, served two decades as a member of the Florida Supreme Court, including two terms as chief justice. He was president of the Florida Bar and Stetson Lawyers Association and winner of Stetson’s Ben C. Willard Award. Justice Drew served on the college’s board of overseers and spearheaded construction projects at the law school.

Ruth Fleet Thurman
Over three decades of students at Stetson Law have worked with and learned from Professor Ruth Fleet Thurman. Thurman, class of 1963, holds the distinction of the being the first female tenured professor at Stetson University College of Law and she was the only woman in her spring 1963 graduating class. Thurman was also the first female assistant state attorney in Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit.

William J. Clapp
In the early 1950s, William J. Clapp played a pivotal role in convincing Stetson University trustees and President Ollie Edmunds that St. Petersburg/Gulfport would be an ideal place to relocate the College of Law. Clapp helped organize a community fundraising campaign in the area to help make the move financially possible for Stetson.

Gardner W. Beckett Jr.
Gardner Beckett, class of 1957, was a celebrated civil rights attorney. During his legal career, he donated countless hours of legal representation through the American Civil Liberties Union and was recognized with the Nelson Poynter Award, Florida’s highest award in civil liberties. He won three cases for the ACLU before the U.S. Supreme Court. Beckett served on the Stetson Law board of overseers and as an adjunct professor of law. In 1967, Beckett became president of the board of directors for the Stetson University Law Center Foundation, later known as the Dana Law Center Foundation. He was a member of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and the Pinellas County Committee of 100.

Murray Sams Jr.
During his career, Murray Sams Jr., class of 1949, was one of our nation’s finest trial lawyers. He was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a board member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, president of the International Society of Barristers and the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education, and a member of numerous other legal organizations.
Over the years, Sams was a generous donor to Stetson, sharing his time, energy and talents to help launch numerous education programs. He served as a member of the College of Law Board of Overseers and the Charles A. Dana Law Foundation.

Mary Stewart Howarth-Hewitt
Mary Stewart Howarth-Hewitt, class of 1908, was the first woman in Florida to attend law school and earn a law degree. She was admitted by the Florida Supreme Court to practice on June 20, 1908. She supported Stetson throughout her life and taught constitutional law at the school on a part-time basis.

James T. Russell
James T. Russell, class of 1954, was elected to the Florida Legislature in 1958 and served for six years. He also served as a judge for several municipalities and as Gulfport City Attorney. In 1965, Russell became an assistant state attorney. In 1969, the governor appointed him state attorney for the 6th Judicial Circuit, a position he held until January 1993. In the 1970s, Russell helped create a new prosecution clinic at the College of Law.

Robert E. Jagger
Robert E. Jagger, class of 1958, spent more than three decades as Public Defender for Pinellas-Pasco county. In 1963, Jagger, together with Stetson professor Paul Barnard and 6th Judicial Circuit Senior Judge John Bird, organized the state’s first clinical legal education program at Stetson University College of Law.

Walter Mann
For more than 25 years, Walter Mann was a moving force in the development and progress of Stetson University College of Law. He gave generously of time and resources. He was an organizer of the College of Law Board of Overseers and served as its first president from February 1961 until February 1967. He was later elected treasurer of the board and served from 1969 until his death in August 1981.