McGhee ’74 receives Distinguished Achievement Award

During Homecoming weekend, Judge Odell McGhee II ’74 was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award, which is the highest honor awarded by the Alumni Association and the college.

Odell was appointed to the bench in 2002 in the Fifth Judicial District where he served until his retirement two years ago. He served as president of the National Bar Association and in 2008 was elected unanimously as the first Black president of the Iowa Judges Association. He was president of the Iowa Bar Association for more than 10 years. He also served as group chair of the National Prosecutor Association, was on several special committees of the Iowa State Bar Association, and on the Executive Board of the Polk County Bar Association.

He has been a member of the Drake Law School’s Board of Counselors and an adjunct faculty member at the Law School and Des Moines Area Community College. McGhee directs the Langston Hughes Company of Players, a local minority theatrical troupe that presents the history of African America through music, dance, and the written word.

The Distinguished Achievement Award is based on outstanding generosity or service to the college, outstanding participation in community and civic affairs, or distinguished achievement in one’s field of endeavor.