NCSC selects six for induction into Warren E. Burger Society

Honor recognizes support of national court nonprofit, commitment to improving justice

From left: Mary McQueen, Charles Noteboom, Jude Del Preore, Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz, Jan Aikman Dickson, Justice Mark Martin, Justice Elena Kagan, and Chief Judge Eric Washington.

Williamsburg, Va. (Nov. 21, 2011) — The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) inducted six people into the Warren E. Burger Society during its Annual Recognition Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 18. The luncheon, held at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C., was hosted by Chief Judge Eric T. Washington of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, chair of NCSC's Board of Directors.

Membership in the Warren E. Burger Society honors individuals who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving the administration of justice through their contributions of service or support to NCSC. The society is named for the former chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who helped found the National Center in 1971.

This year's Burger Society inductees include a state chief justice and a state senior associate justice, a court administrator, the founder of a national organization that serves the families of judges, an attorney, and the retired vice president and general counsel of a multinational corporation. All of the inductees have volunteered their time, talent, and support to the National Center in exceptional ways. 

The 2011 inductees are:

• Paul J. De Muniz, chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
• Jude Del Preore, court administrator of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Burlington County
• Jan Aikman Dickson, founder of the Judicial Family Institute
• Mark D. Martin, senior associate justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Charles W. Matthews, retired vice president and general counsel of Exxon Mobil Corp.
• E. Leo Milonas, partner with the Pillsbury law firm and former chief administrative judge of the State of New York

Burger Society inductees are selected by a committee chaired by Texas attorney Charles M. Noteboom, who commissioned the portrait of Chief Justice Burger that hangs in the National Center's headquarters in Williamsburg, Va. Each inductee receives a limited edition of that portrait, which is signed and numbered by the artist, Fran Di Giacomo. There are 1,986 prints of the portrait, the first two of which are owned by Chief Justice Burger's children and the last of which was owned by the late U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who took his oath from the retiring Chief Justice Burger in 1986.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. Founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, NCSC provides education, training, technology, management, and research services to the nation's state courts.