2022 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients

The Honorable Dan Biles, '78

Photograph: Dan Biles. Justice Dan Biles a native of El Dorado, Kansas, earned a journalism degree at Kansas State University. During law school, he also worked as an Associated Press reporter in Topeka. After graduation, he served as an assistant attorney general, attorney for the Kansas Board of Education, and general counsel for the Kansas Turnpike Authority. He then worked in private practice before being appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court in 2009.

In addition to his service on the bench, Justice Biles has also donated his time as an adjunct professor at the law school as well as a visiting professor at K-State. Justice Biles has a long-standing reputation as being a friend to the law school and can be counted on as an engaged member of the school’s alumni.

The Honorable Stephen D. Hill, '75

Photograph: Stephen Hill. Judge Stephen Hill was born in Fort Scott, Kansas. He grew up in Wichita but spent most of his legal career as a lawyer, county attorney, and judge in the 6th Judicial District. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from Washburn University School of Law. After serving 22 years as a district court judge, he was named to the Kansas Court of Appeals in 2003.

Judge Hill has previously served as the Chair of the Kansas Judicial Council Pattern Instructions Advisory Committee and is a past member of the Kansas District Judges executive committee. He has participated as speaker in numerous continuing legal and judicial education events in Kansas and at the Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. Judge Hill remains connected to the law school and is a regular lecturer in the classroom.