Quincy University inducts 2021 Legal Hall of Fame class

QUINCY – Quincy University inducted three people and the Adams County Bar Association into its Legal Hall of Fame at its 2021 induction ceremony on Saturday in the Hall of Fame Room in the Health and Fitness Center, 20th and Oak.

Inducted were:

Mary Jo White, Class of 1963

White served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 21st Senatorial District from 1997 to 2012. She worked as a public defender for Venango County from 1974-76 before joining the Quaker State Corporation, where she worked until 1996 as vice president for environmental and government affairs. She chaired the Senate Environmental Committee for 12 years and was the first woman elected to the Republican leadership in the state of Pennsylvania. White has served on the board for the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Venango County Association for the Blind and Venango Community Foundation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from QU and earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

Robert G. Dowd Jr., Class of 1973

Missouri’s longest-serving sitting judge, Dowd retired from the Missouri Court of Appeals-Eastern District in 2020 after 41 years on the bench. Dowd was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1994 and served as chief judge from July 1998 through June 1999. His career began in 1978 when he was elected as a magistrate judge at age 27, a few months after earning his law license. He later served as an associate circuit judge and a circuit judge in the City of St. Louis. His community interests include serving on the board of directors of the Mental Health Association, the Catholic Youth Council and Dismas House. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from QU and his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

Clairice Hetzler, Class of 2009

Hetzler served as the executive director of Advocacy Network for Children from 1998-2016. During her 18 years at the Advocacy Network, Hetzler worked with the state’s attorney, DCFS and law enforcement in Adams County, teaming with their counterparts in eight adjoining counties to establish Children’s Advocacy Centers. After her retirement in 2016, she started a Children’s Advocacy program serving five counties south of the Advocacy Network service area. Hetzler opened Hetzler & Associates in 2017, which provides behavioral health therapy; the Child 1st Parenting Time Program, which provides supervised visits for non-custodial parents in a safe place; and the Partner Abuse Intervention Program for women. Hetzler earned her bachelor’s in human services from QU and her master’s in social work from the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana.

The Adams County Bar Association

The Adams County Bar Association educates and provides information to the public about the judiciary and the legal profession. As a private, nonprofit corporation, the Adams County Bar Association and its voluntary members strive to improve the profession and expand access to justice.