(Posted July 19, 2001)

John McN. Cramer of New Buffalo, Pa., a partner in the law firm of ReedSmith LLP and former chair of the Juniata College Board of Trustees, received the John C. Baker Award for Exemplary Service from Juniata College at a recent meeting of the board.

The John C. Baker Award is presented by the Board of Trustees to recognize and honor individuals or organizations for exemplary service to Juniata College. The award is not given annually, but is reserved for appropriate candidates as they arise. Cramer is the third recipient of the award since it was established in 1997.

"John has led the Board with a steady hand and presided over successes in many areas of campus life," said Thomas Kepple, Juniata College president. "During his tenure the college has increased enrollment, improved our facilities and grounds and increased financial security for the college."

A 1963 graduate of Juniata College and a native of Juniata County, Cramer is a partner in the Harrisburg Office of ReedSmith LLP, an international law firm with offices throughout the mid-Atlantic region. He started his law career as an associate in the Pittsburgh office of ReedSmith in 1967. He was made partner in the firm in 1973.

Cramer's service to Juniata College has been extensive. He has served on the board of trustees since 1982. Before being named chair of the board in 1997, Cramer served as vice chair and secretary.

A specialist in civil litigation, Cramer has represented clients in all three federal judicial districts of Pennsylvania, all appellate courts of Pennsylvania and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He also has argued cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeal in the Second, Third and Seventh circuits.

Cramer earned his Juniata magna cum laude bachelor's degree in social sciences. He earned a cum laude law degree from Harvard Law School in 1966. While at Harvard, he was an editor for the Harvard Law Review. After his graduation from Harvard, Cramer served a judicial clerkship with the late Walter R. Mansfield, then a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also teaches as an Advocacy Fellow in The Dickinson School of Law Trial Practice Program. Active in community affairs, he serves as a director on the board of the South Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Cramer is a member of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Cumberland and Dauphin counties bar associations. He also was elected to the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County.

The John C. Baker Award is named for John Calhoun Baker, president emeritus of Ohio University and with his wife, Elizabeth Evans Baker, founder of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College. A 1917 graduate of Juniata College and a member of the Church of the Brethren, he was a member of Juniata's Board of Trustees from 1936 until his death in 1999.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.