Awards
- Maurer School of Law Academy of Law Alumni Fellows (2004)
About Stephen O. Kinnard
Stephen O. Kinnard was the chief mediator for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and a prominent activist on behalf of death row inmates. Prior to his death in 2001, Kinnard was the chief circuit mediator for nine years, having established the mediation program in 1992. He also was an adjunct law professor at Emory University School of Law for ten years, along with a year as a visiting law professor at Wayne State University. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals renamed its offices the Kinnard Mediation Center in his honor.
Kinnard also worked as the chairman of the Georgia Bar Association committee that established the Georgia Appallate Practice & Educational Resource center, which rewarded him with the Bill of Rights Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia in 1987. In the same year, he received the American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award. Outside of law, Kinnard was active in the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow. The BSA awarded him the Silver Beaver Award for his service. Also, he was a veteran of the Indiana National Guard.
He graduated from William Jewel College in 1968 and Indiana University School of Law in 1972.