NAPCO is proud to encourage its members to nominate candidates for the National Center for State Courts’ esteemed Warren E. Burger Award recognizing a court executive officer who has significantly contributed to improving the administration of the state courts. Service may be at the local, state or national levels. This prestigious honor recognizes an individual who demonstrates professional expertise, leadership, integrity, creativity, innovativeness, and sound judgment.
Nominations are due no later than Friday, October 14, 2016. Nominees must be actively working in local and state courts or be recently retired. A nomination letter must set forth three major accomplishments of the nominee and be accompanied by the nominee’s resume and at least two letters of reference from individuals who have direct knowledge of the nominee’s accomplishments. The Governance and Nominations Committee of the NCSC Board of Directors serves as the selection body.
Nominations should be sent to the Committee at 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23185-4147. Questions regarding the process can be answered by Stacey Smith, Executive Assistant to the President, National Center for State Courts at .
The award has been presented every year since 1974, in honor of United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger (1907-1995), the 15th Chief Justice of the Court who served 17 years (1969-1986) in that role following a 13-year career as a federal appellate judge in the District of Columbia . He was instrumental in professionalizing and improving the administration of justice in both the federal and state courts. Chief Justice Burger’s speech to the American Bar Association in 1969 noting there were “more trained astronauts than court administrators” gave momentum to the creation of the Institute for Court Management (ICM) in 1970, and the National Center for State Courts in 1971. Eventually, the National Center and ICM merged creating a single nationwide organization dedicated to Burger’s core vision to inform, educate, and train judicial and court leaders.
NAPCO is a beneficiary of that vision.