Alumni News

Lyons, Smith Receive Alumni Merit Awards

School of Dentistry
Ray A. Lyons, DDS’79, received the 2008 Alumni Merit Award from Creighton University’s School of Dentistry on April 25.

Lyons has been involved in dental care and teaching for more than 27 years. As chief of special needs dental services at the New Mexico Department of Health Los Lunas Community Program, he has managed the oral health care of patients with complicated medical conditions and multiple disabilities. At the same time, he has served as an adjunct assistant professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Dental Programs. Lyons is a member of New Mexico Governor’s Oral Health Council, and a dental consultant for UNM’s School of Medicine. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the care of patients with disabilities.

Through the years, he has held many leadership positions, including national president of the Special Care Dentistry Association, national president of the Academy of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities, and oral health expert on the professional board of directors for Community Services Network of Western Tennessee.

He is the 2001 recipient of the Harold Berk Award from the Federation of Special Care Organizations in Dentistry for exemplary contributions to the advancement of oral health care for persons with disabilities. He was named New Mexico Dentist of the Year in 1991, by the Pierre Fouchard Academy and Healthcare Practitioner of the Year in 2007 by the Association for Retarded Citizens of New Mexico.

School of Law
The School of Law presented its 2008 Alumni Merit Award to Walter J. Smith, JD’72, on May 9.

As managing partner of Baker Botts, LLP, Houston, Smith has been the driving force behind the firm’s development of a nationally recognized program for employing individuals with cognitive disabilities in each of its offices throughout the United States. Botts recently received the Employer of the Year Award from the Disability Services Board of Fairfax County, Va., and the National Disability Employer Recognition Regional Award from the New York State Educational Office. Smith has practiced corporate and securities law at Baker Botts, LLP, for more than 27 years. Following his graduation from Creighton, he clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and earned a master’s of law degree from Harvard Law School. He moved to Houston, corporate headquarters for Baker Botts, LLP, in 1975.

He has been involved in numerous civic and charitable activities. Currently, he serves on the board of trustees of Riverview School, Inc., a school for students with special needs in East Sandwich, Mass.; the boards of directors of Fund for Teachers, Inc. Houston; Central Houston Inc., Houston; the Greater Houston Partnership; the University of Houston Law Foundation; and the Development Board of the University of Texas Health Science Center.