The Board of Governors of the St. Thomas More Society is honored to announce that the Honorable Tom Corbett, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will receive the society’s annual St. Thomas More Award for 2011.
Stay tuned for more details on the 60th Annual Red Mass and St. Thomas More Award Dinner, to be held November 16, 2011.
The Saint Thomas More Award is presented by the Society annually to a member of the legal profession whose life and accomplishments exemplify the principles and ideals of St. Thomas More. The inscription on the award reads as follows:
St. Thomas More.Attorney - Public Servant - Jurist - Scholar - Teacher. A practitioner of his Catholic religion, he combined an intense concern for the problems of his day with a personal moral commitment. And he placed obedience to his conscience over blind obedience to governmental authority. Presented by the St. Thomas More Society of Philadelphia in recognition of traits held by St. Thomas More.
Recognizing Governor Corbett’s long dedication to public service and his outstanding defense of values consistent with the Gospel, especially the protection on unborn children, the Board of Governors of the St. Thomas More Society of Philadelphia believes that Governor Corbett is a worthy recipient of the St. Thomas More Award for 2011.
More About Governor Corbett
Tom Corbett was inaugurated as the 46th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 18, 2011.
A life-long Pennsylvania resident, Governor Corbett has a long and distinguished career serving the citizens of the Commonwealth. In the early 1980’s, he served President Ronald Reagan as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, specializing in prosecuting organized crime and drug cases and serving on the National Drug Task Force.
Following several years of private law practice, Corbett was called back to public service in 1989, when President George H. W. Bush appointed him to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
In the 1990’s, Corbett provided criminal law and policy expertise to then-Congressman Tom Ridge, later filling several key roles in Governor Ridge’s administration. In 1995, Corbett was appointed by Governor Ridge as Attorney General and served in that capacity to 1997. He then returned to private practice and formed his own law firm, Thomas Corbett and Associates, which specialized in government relations.
In 2004, he was elected Pennsylvania Attorney General, a position to which he was re-elected in 2008 with more than three million votes—more votes than any Republican candidate in the history of Pennsylvania. As Attorney General, Corbett received national recognition for his efforts to protect children from internet predators, seniors from fraud and abuse, communities from gangs and the violence associated with illegal drugs, and the citizens of Pennsylvania generally from governmental corruption and abuses of power.
Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Corbett served his country as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard 28th Infantry Division from 1971 until 1984, rising from private to captain.
Corbett received his undergraduate degree from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.
