Alumni Magazine & Dean's Report - I.U. School of Law - Indiana ...

2010 Alumni Award Recipients
Distinguished Alumnus Award to
Rev. Franklin E. Breckenridge, Sr., ‘68
Reverend Franklin E. Breckenridge, Sr., ‘68, was former
counsel for Miles Laboratories, is a life member of the
IUAA, and served as chair of the School’s Board of Visitors
for two terms.
After earning his B.S. in Education from IU,
Breckenridge worked in the Head Start program while
attending law school. In addition to teaching, he also worked
at the Indiana Department of Revenue. After graduating in
1968, Rev. Breckenridge says he “hung out his shingle” in
Kokomo where he practiced for five years. In 1973, Rev.
Breckenridge accepted the position of Corporate Attorney
at Miles Laboratories, Inc., now Bayer Corporation, then
based in Elkhart. After an early retirement from Bayer
in 1998, he again went into private practice, this time in
Elkhart. He received his Master of Divinity Degree in 1999
from Associate Mennonite Bible Seminaries and is currently
serving as Pastor of Olivet A.M.E. Church in South Bend.
A member of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1954, he has
served as Vice Chairman of the NAACP since 1995 and served
as a member of the National Board and Assistant Treasurer
from 1988 to 2000. He was president of the Indiana State
NAACP for 25 years, the longest tenure of any state president,
and many of the innovative ideas he introduced locally have
been adopted nationally. He is the recipient of the William
R. Ming Advocacy Award for legal services and the Kelly
M. Alexander, Sr. outstanding State Conference President’s
Award. He also helped to form the Black Judicial Officials
in 1990 and received the Sagamore of the Wabash from
Governors Evan Bayh and Frank O’Bannon.
In August 2009, Breckenridge was inducted into the
National Bar Association (NBA) Hall of Fame, a high honor
I U S C H O O L O F L AW S U M M E R A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E
bestowed by the NBA upon members of the bar who have
excelled in pursuit of justice and equality before the courts
of the United States of America. Rev. Breckenridge and
his wife, Cora, a former member of the Indiana University
Board of Trustees, live in Elkart, Indiana and are the
parents of three children and two granddaughters. A tribute
to Reverend Breckenridge was presented by their son,
Franklin E. Breckenridge, Jr., ‘94, an attorney for Parsons
Construction Corporation in Dubai (UAE).
Early Career Achievement Award to
Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, ‘00
Early Career Achievement Award recipient, Mayor
Jonathan Weinzapfel, ‘00, grew up on a farm in Posey
County and attended IU in Bloomington. After
graduation, he worked as a sales representative for Eli
Lilly and Company, and as an aide to Congressman
Frank McCloskey in Washington, D.C. before returning
to Evansville to work for Old National Bank. In 1999,
he was appointed to fill a term as a State Representative
in the Indiana State Legislature and went on to be elected
to two full terms. In 2003, he defeated an incumbent to
win the office of Mayor of the city of Evansville with 62
percent of the vote. In 2007, he was re-elected with an
overwhelming 85 percent of the vote. Some of his major
accomplishments while in office have been assisting in the
creation of the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville
(GAGE), the Economic Development Coalition for
Southwest Indiana, and the Mayor’s Education Round
Table, which has created the Southwest Indiana College
Access Network and the Early Childhood Development
Coalition. Weinzapfel and his wife, Patricia, have three
children. In addition to his IU J.D. and B.A. degrees, Mayor
Weinzapfel holds an M.A. from Georgetown University.