TOPEKA — Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Kathryn Gardner was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from her alma mater, Geneva College, located in Beaver Falls, Pa.
The annual award is given during the college's fall homecoming to alumni "for service above self, who embody the principles for which Geneva College stands, and whose efforts on behalf of the college, the community, and the nation have been exemplary."
Gardner was one of two recipients of this year's award. She also joined the school's Board of Trustees this year.
"It was an honor to receive the award," Gardner said, "and it was fun going back and seeing the college."
She will now return three times a year for trustee meetings.
Gardner received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the college in 1978 with teaching certificates in English and French. She returned to her native Kansas and taught at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka for two years before attending the University of Kansas School of Law. She earned a law degree in 1983.
Before being named a Court of Appeals judge in 2015, Gardner had a varied legal career, from working as a Court of Appeals research attorney, serving as an assistant attorney general for Kansas, and clerking for U.S. District Judge Sam Crow to being a partner in a Wichita law firm where she specialized in litigating employment discrimination cases.
Gardner has been active in numerous professional, community, and church activities. She has taught continuing legal education courses and has been an adjunct professor at the Washburn University School of Law. She and her husband, Timothy, volunteer weekly for an outreach program of the Topeka Rescue Mission.
Geneva College is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. Gardner's father, Dr. Joe McFarland, served as president of Geneva College from 1984 to 1992.