The Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC) at the law school will host its fifth annual EPIC Inspiration Awards ceremony and reception on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Gambrell Hall. The fund-raising event will begin with the awards ceremony at 6:30 p.m., followed by a reception.

The 2001 EPIC Inspiration Awards will be presented to three individuals who have ade outstanding contributions to the public interest. They include Randolph Thrower, partner with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan; Paula Frederick, deputy general counsel of the State Bar of Georgia and immediate past president of the Atlanta Bar Association; and Vicky Kimbrell, director of the Family Violence Project of the Georgia Legal Services Program.

The awards will be presented by Willis Hunt, U.S. District Court judge and former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

Thrower, who will receive the Lifetime Commitment to Public Service Award, received both undergraduate and J.D. degrees from Emory (1934, 1936) and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1984. He joined Sutherland Asbill & Brennan in 1936 and has practiced in the firm’s Atlanta and Washington offices.

Frederick will receive the Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest Award. She has been with the State Bar of Georgia since 1988, first as assistant general counsel (1988-92), then as deputy general counsel.

Prior to that, Frederick was a staff attorney and managing attorney at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. She holds undergraduate and law degrees from Duke and Vanderbilt universities, respectively.

Kimbrell, who will receive the Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need Award, has been with the Georgia Legal Services Program since 1980, as a staff and supervising attorney, family and health law specialist, and since 1998 as project director with the Family Violence Project. She is a graduate of Georgia State University and the University of Georgia School of Law.

“The awards ceremony is true to its name—when the awards are given out and the speeches made, any law student or practicing lawyer attending is truly inspired to support the effort,” says Victoria Walton, chair of the ceremony.

The event has become a major fund-raising event for EPIC, an organization that provides stipends to law students pursuing public interest law projects during the summer. “Many of the summer grant recipients end up in small non-profit or public defender offices where every dollar counts,” Walton said, “and EPIC funding makes this possible.”

Donations are invited at various levels, with a minimum of $25. Inquiries about contributions and reservations should be directed to Sue McAvoy at 404-727-5503 or smcavoy@emory.edu.