Marietta Daily Journal Publisher Otis A. Brumby Jr. (LL.B.'65) has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the University of Georgia School of Law alumni association's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Scroll Award. The award was presented to him during the school's recent alumni breakfast conducted in conjunction with the State Bar of Georgia's annual meeting.

This accolade is given annually to individuals whose dedication and service to the legal profession and the School of Law deserve special recognition.

Brumby's award was presented to him by G. Conley Ingram, Superior Court of Cobb County senior judge and former Georgia Supreme Court justice.

"(Otis) has set a strong leadership example for all of us who feel passionate about open government," said Ingram. "Free speech rights, I think, are at the heart of his dedication and loyalty to our way of life in this country and to the open and fair administration of justice in our country. He deserves this award plain and simple."

Upon receiving the award, Brumby said it was "overwhelming" to be placed in the ranks of such a distinguished group.

"My lifelong interests of protecting and enhancing First Amendment freedoms is a direct result of my having attended the University of Georgia law school and the constitutional law classes that it offered," Brumby said.

Last year, Brumby was honored with the first-ever David Hudson Open Government Award from the Georgia Press Association. Hudson is an Augusta lawyer who is considered one of Georgia's foremost First Amendment legal specialists. The Journal has twice won the Georgia Press Association's Freedom of Information award. Earlier this month, Brumby and Journal Editorial Page Editor Joe Kirby won the Georgia Press Association's award for Best Editorial Writing for a series of editorials on the Cobb School Board, including voting in executive session, a violation of Georgia's Open Meetings Laws.

Brumby is currently serving as a trustee of the UGA Arch Foundation and prior to that served as a trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation.

In 2004, he established a distinguished professorship in First Amendment Law, a joint faculty post that is shared between the law school and the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication that was later named in his honor. He also served as a committee member for the law school during the Archway to Excellence fundraising effort.

Brumby received his undergraduate degree from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn.,, where he majored in political science and minored in economics. After graduating from Georgia Law School, he began working at the Journal as assistant to the publisher. He is a member of the Cobb and Georgia Bar Associations.

In addition to his responsibilities at the Journal, Brumby launched the weekly Neighbor Newspapers in 1969 to serve the Atlanta suburbs.

Brumby is a past president of the Georgia Press Association. He is also the former Georgia chair of the National Newspaper Association and was a director of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. Additionally, Brumby has been on the Grady College board of advisers and has served as chair of the State Board of Education.