Distinguished Service Award Recipients

The Honorable J. Thomas Marten, B.A. ’73, J.D. ’76, H. ’18, received his bachelor of arts and juris doctor both from Washburn University. After graduation, Judge Marten served as law clerk to retired Associate Justice Tom C. Clark of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. He then spent 19 years practicing law, with an emphasis in litigation, in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kansas, including 14 years as a member of Bremyer & Wise, P.A. in McPherson, Kansas. Judge Marten was appointed United States District Judge for the District of Kansas by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the judgeship was once held by his great uncle, the late Judge Delmas Hill. He served as Chief Judge of the District of Kansas from April 2014 until May 2017. He took senior status in May 2017, and retired from the bench in 2021.

Judge Marten has served on the Advisory Board of the Sedona Conference and has completed terms on the Information Technology Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States and the Board of Directors of the Federal Judges Association. He has taught trial advocacy at various programs and workshops throughout the United States including Harvard Law, Wichita State University, the Department of Justice Trial Advocacy center, National University of Ireland, Galway, and has been a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars throughout the country. He served on the Judicial Conference of the United States Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Evidence during the last few years of his judgeship. He is a founding member of the Wesley E. Brown American Inn of Court in Wichita. He served on the Washburn School of Law Board of Governors, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the law school’s Alumni Association, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law by Washburn University.