UA Little Rock Honors Judges Rita and Wayne Gruber as Distinguished Alumni of the Year from Bowen School of Law

The William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has honored married Judges Rita and Wayne Gruber as its Distinguished Alumni of the Year.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor given to an alumnus by the William H. Bowen School of Law. This recipient of this award has demonstrated a lifetime of commitment and advancement to Bowen's core principles of access to justice, public service, and professionalism.

"My wife Rita and I are very honored to have received this award," Judge Wayne Gruber said. "We both worked full time while attending UA Little Rock law school classes at night. It was very challenging! In return, we received a wonderful education, passed the Bar, and had very rewarding careers, first in law practice and then as elected judges."

The Bowen School of Law, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary, honored five Distinguished Alumni Award recipients at its Nov. 1 luncheon. The proceeds from the awards ceremony will support the Veterans Legal Services Clinic. Over three years, the clinic has directly responded to more than 600 veteran requests for assistance from across the state and represented clients in Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense proceedings.

"The Bowen Alumni Board honored five outstanding lawyers at our November 1 Distinguished Alumni lunch," Bowen Dean Colin Crawford said. "The lead award went to two exceptional jurists who met at law school, married and practiced together for many years before becoming judges, namely Court of Appeals Judge Rita Gruber and her husband District Court Judge Wayne Gruber. They both delivered generous reflections of their time at Bowen and expressed their gratitude for Arkansas's supportive legal community. We were also delighted to recognize the Hon. Colette Honorable for a long career in public service, and Cara Butler as the Emerging Leader. A new award for a non-graduate Friend of Bowen was given to attorney David Sudduth. It was a pleasure to be able to recognize five such talented people."

Distinguished Alumna of the Year

Judge Rita Gruber has served on the Arkansas Court of Appeals since 2009 after completing 18 years as a circuit judge for the Sixth Judicial District. While serving on the trial bench, she helped establish a Volunteer Probation Officer program to work with first-time juvenile offenders. She also established a specialized teen parenting program, a truancy alternative school, and helped plan the CSTP juvenile boot camp at Camp Robinson. Before she was elected as a circuit judge, Gruber served as interim Pulaski County judge and had a 10-year law practice in North Little Rock.

She is a member of the Pulaski County Bar Association, Arkansas Bar Association, and American Bar Association. She is very active in her community, serving on many boards and committees. Gruber works closely with the Bowen School of Law, developing mediation programming, particularly for juvenile cases. She's also served several terms on the Bowen School of Law Dean's Advisory Council.

Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Judge Wayne Gruber has served Pulaski County as district judge since March 2001. Before his election, he worked in private practice as a partner in the Gruber Law Firm for 20 years. Gruber retired from the Arkansas National Guard 189th Airlift Wing, where he served as a judge advocate for 16 years and his last 10 years as a staff judge advocate. Before serving in the guard, he served four years on active duty at the Little Rock Air Force Base.

Gruber has previously served as president of the Pulaski County Bar Association, and the organization recognized him as District Judge of the Year in 2001, 2009, and 2014. In 2015, he served as president of the Arkansas District Judges' Council and received the Pulaski County Bar Association's Lawyer Citizen Award in 2018.

One of Gruber's proudest accomplishments is the implementation of the Pulaski County District Court DWI/Sobriety Court Program, a national model sponsored by the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration. One of only 12 statewide programs, it's designed to reduce the number of DWI offenses by providing alternative sentencing including counseling and treatment.

Outstanding Alumna in Public Service Award

Colette Honorable, executive vice president of public policy and chief external affairs officer for Exelon Corporation, has received the Outstanding Alumna in Public Service Award, which is given to a Bowen graduate who has dedicated their personal and professional life to serving the people of the State of Arkansas, and has demonstrated a track record of servant leadership.

"I am humbled by the recognition of my alma mater," Honorable said. "The education I received at Bowen prepared me not only for a career in public service, but also to compete on the world's stage. I will always be grateful to have received my legal training from a place that taught me the vital importance of the law, but also the duty, power and honor of serving others."

In her role at Exelon Corporation, the nation's largest utility, she is responsible for the company's policy engagement with external stakeholders, overseeing federal and regulatory affairs, strategy, sustainability, customer engagement, and corporate giving. She also serves on Exelon's executive committee and the Exelon Foundation Board.

Honorable was nominated by President Barack Obama and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Previously, she served on the Arkansas Public Service Commission, including as interim chairman and chairman. Prior to joining the Arkansas PSC, Honorable served as chief of staff to the Arkansas Attorney General and as a member of the governor's cabinet as executive director of the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board. Her previous employment includes service as a legal services attorney, an assistant public defender, a consumer protection, and civil litigation attorney, and as a special prosecutor and senior assistant attorney general in Medicaid fraud before serving as an adjunct instructor at Bowen and Special Judge of the Pulaski County Circuit Court.

She is involved in several organizations, including The Economic Club, the Executive Leadership Council, the Energy Bar Association, the American Association of Blacks in Energy, the National Bar Association and the Women's Council on Energy and the Environment. She serves on the William Jefferson Clinton School of Public Service Advisory Board, the National Academies of Sciences' Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, and the global advisory board of Energy Futures Initiatives.

Emerging Leader Award

Cara Butler, an associate at Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, received the Emerging Leader Award. The award is given to a Bowen alum who is 35 years of age or younger, or has graduated Bowen less than 10 years prior, and has shown professional distinction early in their career, and an abiding commitment to the Bowen School of Law.

Butler graduated summa cum laude from Bowen in 2019 and earned the top score on the July 2019 Arkansas Bar Examination. She focuses her law practice on advising businesses and not-for-profits on employment and workplace issues. Butler is currently recognized as a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Employment Management Law, in Employment Litigation, and in Commercial Litigation.

Butler was awarded the Arkansas Bar Foundation's writing award for Best in the general writing category in 2023. She is a graduate of Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XXXIX and serves on the Baptist Health Foundation Board of Trustees. She also has served as a mentor to Bowen students for several years and is currently teaching Lawyering Skills I as an adjunct professor.

Friend of Bowen Award

David Sudduth, chief public defender at the Sixth Judicial District Public Defender's Office covering Pulaski and Perry Counties, received the Friend of Bowen Award. This award is given to an individual or an organization which has demonstrated support and commitment to the advancement of Bowen.

The Public Defender's office and its staff of over 50 civil servants offer Sudduth many sources of pride. It's their clerkship program he holds as the office's crowning achievement. Since the beginning of Sudduth's tenure just over one year ago, the Public Defender's office has provided clerkships to more than 40 Bowen law students. In offering direct courtroom experience and instilling the principle that "law school never ends," Sudduth firmly believes the clerkship program benefits Bowen students and the entire legal community.

"I've practiced law for 25 years, and, though I did not attend Bowen, I cannot imagine my current practice without Bowen's influence," Sudduth said. "Beginning with the Bar exam preparatory course taken at Bowen those many years ago to my work alongside distinguished Bowen alumni every day since, Bowen's influence has shaped both myself and my practice. Without this influence, I believe many things accomplished during my practice would not have been possible. It brings me a great deal of joy and a sense of fulfillment to now receive the Friend of Bowen award."

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