PROVO, Utah — On Thursday, April 23, J. Clifford Wallace stood at the lectern in the Marriott Center during Brigham Young University’s annual commencement as university President C. Shane Reese and Justin M. Collings, BYU academic vice president, placed a “BYU Cougar blue” doctor’s hood across his shoulders.
For Wallace’s “outstanding life and contribution to society and to the world” as a federal judge, President Reese bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Law and Public Service from the university.
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency and a longtime friend of Wallace, attended the event and congratulated him on behalf of the First Presidency, including President Russell M. Nelson, “whose recent 100th birthday gives him a unique perspective to view the long-time accomplishments of Judge Wallace,” President Oaks said.