George Shur and family

George M. Shur, a graduate of Colby College (A.B., 1964) and Boston University School of Law (J.D. 1968), retired from Northern Illinois University in 2003 after serving 20 years as general counsel. Mr. Shur frequently stated that taking the job of legal counsel and moving to DeKalb was one of the best decisions of his life. He loved the academic environment, NIU athletics and going to both NIU football and basketball games. An avid supporter of education and the community, Mr. Shur was elected to the DeKalb (IL) Board of Education in 1991 for eight years and was elected President of the Board from 1995-1999. Mr. Shur also served as a member of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Prior to his time at Northern, Mr. Shur was a partner in the law firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson in Portland, Maine, where he specialized in education, municipal, administrative, and trial law. Mr. Shur presented papers at numerous regional and national meetings of associations of higher education and attended the Harvard University College of Education Institute for Educational Management (1990). He was a member of the Bars of Maine and Illinois (both state and federal), the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First and Seventh Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Shur served on the faculties of the ASJA Institute for Campus Judicial Affairs (at Bowling Green State University and Western Washington University) and the Stetson University College of Law Conference on the Law and Higher Education. He was President of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) in 188-89, NACUA?s representative to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and recipient of NACUA?s distinguished service award in 2001. In 1994, Mr. Shur received the Thomas S. Biggs, Jr. Award from Stetson University College of Law in recognition of national contributions and dedicated services to the field of higher education law. Also in 1994, he participated in a nationally televised ?Town Meeting,? at the annual conference of the Society of Professional Journalists, on the subject of public access to student disciplinary hearings. In addition, Mr. Shur served as an officer on the Legal Education, Admission, and Competence Committees of both the Maine and Illinois Bar Associations, and was a dean in the spring of 2003 sailing of Semester at Sea. Mr. Shur made many friends at Northern Illinois University?s College of Law, not only among faculty but also among the student body. It is through Mr. Shur?s generosity and the ongoing support of the Shur family and friends that this scholarship award has been established.