The Liberty Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago. It is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves as persons of Czech, Slovak, Moravian, Silesian or Ruthenian heritage, in the service of others through the legal profession, or in the promotion of the relationship between the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the United States.
Liberty Award Winners
2024: Andrew H. Schapiro, United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic, 2014-2017
2023: Joseph E. Kolar, President, Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago, 2019-2022
2023: Prof. JUDr. Jaroslav Fenyk, Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic
2019: Rosemary Macko Wisnosky, Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in Illinois
2018: Jean K. Hruby, President, American Sokol
2017: Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune Columnist
2016: Frank Saballus, Owner, Klas Resaturant
2014: RoseMarie C. Knight, Coordinator of John Marshall Law School Trips to the Czech Republic
2013: Gail Naughton, CEO, National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library
2012: Judith W. Munson and Lester E. Munson, Jr. for Promoting the Bilateral Relationship Between the Czech Republic and the United States
2011: Hon. Sheila M. Murphy and Patrick C. Racey, Instructors, Czech/Slovak Legal Institute, John Marshall Law School
2010: Ambassador Marek Skolil, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Chicago
2009: Kristyna M. Driehaus, President, The Kristyna M. Driehaus Foundation
2008: Edward J. Dellin, Chair, Chicago-Prague Sister Cities Committee
2007: Ernest A. Melichar, Director, Planned Giving, John Marshall Law School
2004: Archbishop Daniel W. Kucera, O.S.B., Abbot, St. Procopius Abbey
2003: Professor Michael P. Seng, Director, Czech/Slovak Legal Institute, John Marshall Law School
2002: George T. Drost, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Chicago
2001: Bernard M. Judge, Editor, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
2000: Liberty P. Dvorak, George F. Dvorak, Hon. James J. Mejda, Frederick J. Krubel and Alexander O. Walter, Senior Colleagues and Advisors, Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago
1999: Dean R. Gilbert Johnston, Dean, John Marshall Law School
1998: Stephen Anderson, Editor, Illinois State Bar Association Journal
Joseph E. Kolar, 2023 Liberty Award Recipient (with Mary Cunningham, President, Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago, 2022-2023), was honored for his leadership of the Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago between 2019 and 2022, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. JUDr. Jaroslav Fenyk, 2023 Liberty Award recipient, with Mary Cunningham, President, Bohemian Lawyers’ Association of Chicago, 2022-2023.
Professor Fenyk, who served as Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, is a world-renowned expert in criminal law who has championed issues of human rights and anti-corruption.
Rosemary Macko Wisnosky, 2019 Liberty Award Recipient (with, from L to R, Joe Kolar, Dennis Wisnosky, Michael Jordan and Filip Zucek), was honored for her service as Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in Illinois.