Honary Degree Citation

Frank M. Coffin. Spanning more than 50 years, your distinguished service has enhanced all three branches of government. A Lewiston native and a graduate of Bates College, you served with the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II, then earned law and business degrees from Harvard before practicing law in Portland. In the 1950s you and Edmund Muskie revitalized the moribund Democratic Party in Maine. You served two terms in the U.S Congress, then ran for governor. You left your mark on domestic and international development: President John F. Kennedy appointed you managing director of the Development Loan Fund, an agency born of legislation you drafted, and you served as deputy administrator of the Agency for International Development. President Lyndon Johnson appointed you to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in 1965, and you are now a senior judge of that court. As the author of four books, numerous articles, and more than 2,300 opinions, you illuminated the path for other judges and established an impressive body of precedents noted for their clarity and wisdom. Your legacy includes extraordinary mentoring of clerks, unwavering courtesy to lawyers in your court, and dedication to making legal services available across the socioeconomic spectrum in Maine. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said, “Judges who have not served on the First Circuit with Frank Coffin envy those who – like me – have had the opportunity to do so. Frank taught us much of value – about law and about character. Through his opinions, his legal writings, his government service, his humanity, he has become a judicial legend – a master craftsman of the law.

On behalf of Colby College, I am pleased to name you, Frank M. Coffin, recipient of the 2006 Morton A. Brody Distinguished Judicial Service Award.