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UT President to receive award from Anti-Defamation League

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By Community Impact Newspaper Staff Wednesday, 18 February 2009

AUSTIN — The Austin Council of the Anti-Defamation League will present its inaugural Austin Jurisprudence Award on Mar. 11 to William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin. The Jurisprudence Award will be given every two years to an outstanding legal professional who exhibits a commitment to equality, justice, fairness and community service.

"President Powers has provided strong leadership to promote respect and inclusion, both at the University of Texas School of Law and across the entire Austin campus," said Jeff Newberg, chair of the Executive Committee for the Austin Council of the ADL. "We cannot think of a more appropriate recipient of our first Austin Jurisprudence Award."

President Powers has been affiliated with The University of Texas at Austin for more than 30 years, serving as professor in the School of Law, then as dean of the School of Law from 2000 until his appointment as the 28th president of The University of Texas at Austin in February 2006.

As dean of the School of Law, Powers' emphasis on diversity led to the quadrupling of the number of African-American students and the doubling of the number of Hispanic students. Under his leadership, the school was recognized by Time magazine as the national leader among schools working to broaden their traditional applicant pool, and by Hispanic Business magazine for four consecutive years as the No. 1 law school in the nation for Hispanics.

"As the flagship university of Texas — and as an institution that expects from itself nothing less than the absolute best — The University of Texas at Austin must tap into the diversity that our state embodies," Powers said.

The Austin Jurisprudence Award Luncheon will take place at 11:30 a.m. March 11 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, 1900 University Ave. Tickets are available by calling 735-8012 or emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To find out more about the award, visit www.adl.org/southwest.