Distinguished Alumni Recognition for 2007
Senator Robert J. Dole '52

Photograph: Robert Dole.Senator Robert J. Dole received his A.B. from Washburn University and his law degree from Washburn University School of Law in 1952.

Senator Dole is currently special counsel at Alston & Bird, L.L.P. in Washington, DC. In 2007, Senator Dole was appointed as the co-chairman of the newly-created White House President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors.

During WWII, Dole served in the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant and platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division in the Allied liberation of Northern Italy. He was severely wounded in the mountains of Italy in 1945 and spent 39 months recovering in hospitals. He served from June 1943 and was honorably discharged as a Captain in July 1948.

In 1950, while a student at Washburn Law, Senator Dole was elected to the Kansas Legislature and served in the House of Representatives until 1953. From 1952 to 1960, he was elected to four consecutive terms as Russell County Attorney.

Dole was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1960. He was re-elected and served until 1968. He was then elected to the United States Senate in 1968 and was consistently re-elected and served until 1996. Dole was elected Senate Majority Leader in 1984 and served four consecutive Congresses as Senate Republican leader until he retired from the Senate in 1996. From 1971 to 1973, Senator Dole served as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Presidential candidate Gerald Ford asked Dole to be his running mate for vice president of the United States in 1976. Dole ran for president of the United States in 1988 and 1996.

Dole's public service has included prominent appointments including: advisor, U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979; advisor, President's Delegation to Study the Food Crisis in India, 1966; advisor, U.S. Delegation to Study the Arab Refugee Problem, 1967; member, U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 1970, 1973; member, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1977; and member, National Commission on Social Security Reform, 1983.

Dole served as the national chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign from 1997 to 2004; chaired the International Commission for Missing Persons investigating ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia; served as president of the influential Federal City Council in Washington, D.C.; and after September 11, along with former President Bill Clinton, co-chaired the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which raised over $120 million. Dole serves as chairman of the board of The Dole Foundation, which he established in 1983 to advance educational and workforce opportunities for the disabled.

Dole served as a Washburn Endowment Association Trustee from 1987 to 1998 when he became Trustee Emeriti. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Washburn Alumni Association in 1966; an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Washburn University 1969; and the Washburn University School of Law Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 1981. In March 2004, Dole gave the keynote address at the Washburn University School of Centennial Celebration Black-Tie Gala.

Some of the many honors Dole has received include: Distinguished Kansan Award in 1976 from the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas; the Citation of Distinguished Statesmanship in 1984 from the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas; the Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction Award from the Kansas Bar Association in 1986; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1997, the nation's highest civilian honor for meritorious contributions to the interest of the United States; Kansan of the Year by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas in 2004; the Golden Medal of Freedom in 2004 from the President of Kosova; the Distinguished Service Medal, American Legion; the Teddy Roosevelt Award from the National Collegiate Athletic Association; the Horatio Alger Award from The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans; and the U.S. Defense Department’s Distinguished Public Service Award. Of note, Dole is the only person to receive all three awards from the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas.

Dole established The Honorable Robert J. Dole Scholarship Fund for Law Students with Disabilities, at the School of Law. The fund provides assistance to students with disabilities for tuition, books and other special needs.