Commencement

Guest Speaker

THE HONORABLE ALICE M. BATCHELDER

Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

From 1971 to 1983, Judge Batchelder served as an attorney in private practice with Williams and Batchelder in Medina, Ohio. She obtained her first judicial post as a judge on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio in 1983. After two years, she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. While a district judge, Batchelder earned a Master of Laws degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1988.

In 1991, President George Bush appointed her to her position as judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which covers Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. From August 2009 to August 2014, Judge Batchelder served as Chief Judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Batchelder received her B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, and her J.D. from the University of Akron School of Law. She is on the Board of Trustees of Grove City College, from which she received an Honorary Doctor of Law in 2009. She has been honored with several awards from The University of Akron and the University of Akron School of Law including an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Law in 2001; and in 2013 an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In 1993, she received the Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Lake Erie College. In 2011, Judge Batchelder received the Defender of the Constitution award from the Heritage Foundation. In 2016, she was honored with the Claremont Institute’s Ronald Reagan Jurisprudence Award. In May of 2018, she was presented with the Sir Thomas More Award from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland in conjunction with the Akron Bar Association. She was presented with the Friend of Liberty Award from Regent University School of Law in 2022. Most recently, she received the John M. Ashbrook Award in September 2025 from Ashland University.

She was married for 55 years to her beloved husband, the late William G. Batchelder III, longtime Ohio legislator and former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. She makes no effort to be objective about her two wonderful adult children and their wonderful spouses, and her eight grandchildren whom she adores and with whom she enjoys spending more time since taking senior status.

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