University of Arizona Law to Honor Three Distinguished Alumni at 2025 Lifetime Achievement Awards
This year, the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law will honor Burt Kinerk (’62), Judge Roxanne Song Ong (’78), and Judge John Roll (’72) with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are selected by faculty for their distinguished and exemplary careers, contributions to the legal profession, support for public causes and law reform, and commitment to the pursuit of justice.
Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony
Date: Friday, Nov. 7, 2025
Time: 4:30–6 p.m.
Where: The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, 1201 E. Speedway Blvd.
Who may attend: This event is free and open to all alumni, family, friends and students. RSVP is requested.
2025 Honorees
Burton J. Kinerk, Class of 1962
A native son of Tucson, Burton J. Kinerk earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Arizona in 1957. After serving as a First Lieutenant Airborne intelligence officer in the U.S. Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, he returned home to earn his LLB from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1962.
Kinerk’s legal career has spanned more than 60 years in civil trial work at the local, state and federal levels, with a particular emphasis on plaintiffs’ cases. Over the last 35 years, he has also served as a registered sports agent, advising, negotiating contracts for, and mentoring numerous professional athletes and coaches with Southern Arizona ties, including Lute Olson, Sean Elliott, Chuck Cecil, Tedy Bruschi, Michael Bates, Mario Bates, Byron Evans, Joe Salave’a, Chris McAlister, Larry Smith, Mike Candrea, Ricky Barnes, Dan Forsman and Crissy Ahmann Perham.
He co-founded the Arizona’s Finest Lawyers Foundation and served as president of both the Tucson Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association (now the Arizona Association for Justice). He has served on the Executive Board of the University of Arizona Foundation—including as Board Chairman—and on the Law College Association board. A founding member of the Copper Bowl Foundation, Kinerk is a longtime member of the Tucson Conquistadores, the Pima County Fair Horse Racing Commission, and the University of Arizona President’s Club. He continues to share his expertise as a guest lecturer at Arizona Law, the Arizona State Bar, the Western Trial Lawyers Association, and the Pima County Bar Association.
Throughout his distinguished career, Kinerk has been recognized as a top attorney by numerous organizations and publications, including an AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell® since 1980. His deep commitment to his community is reflected in his many honors, including induction into the Tucson High Badger Foundation and the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame, as well as recognition as Tucson Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year, Father’s Day Council Tucson Father of the Year, and recipient of the University of Arizona C.A.T.S. Silver Anniversary Award.
He and his wife, Nancy, are proud of the four children and eleven grandchildren they have raised.
Judge Roxanne K. Song Ong, Class of 1978
Judge Roxanne K. Song Ong has served the Arizona criminal justice system for more than 40 years, breaking barriers as the first Asian American woman lawyer and the first Asian American woman judge in the state. The daughter of Chinese immigrants and a Phoenix native, she earned her BA in Education from Arizona State University in 1975 and her JD from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1978. She began her career practicing criminal prosecution, criminal defense and immigration law.
Judge Song Ong was appointed to the Scottsdale City Court in 1986, launching a distinguished judicial career. In 1991, she joined the Phoenix Municipal Court, where she became assistant presiding judge in 2000. Five years later, she was appointed chief presiding judge — the first woman and first person of color to hold that position — overseeing one of the busiest high-volume courts in the country until her retirement in 2014.
Her tenure was marked by innovative reforms, including enhanced DUI case management and the establishment of specialty and problem-solving courts. Phoenix’s Veterans Court, Homeless Court, Mental Health Court, and Domestic Violence Court became national models under her leadership. Judge Song Ong continues to teach, serve on numerous boards and commissions, and presides as a Pro Tem judge across various jurisdictions.
Judge John McCarthy Roll, Class of 1972 (posthumous)
Judge John McCarthy Roll was a distinguished American jurist who served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. His career spanned nearly four decades. His life was marked by dedication to justice, public service, and a deep commitment to his faith, family and community.
Born on February 8, 1947, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Judge Roll moved to Arizona at the age of seven with his family, seeking a better climate for his mother’s health. He attended Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, earned his BA from the University of Arizona in 1969, and his JD from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1972. He later obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1990.
He began his legal career as a bailiff in the Pima County Superior Court, later serving as an assistant city attorney for Tucson and as a deputy county attorney for Pima County. In 1980, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he led the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and served as the lead civil attorney.
In 1987, Judge Roll was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, where he became presiding judge in 1988 and vice-chief judge in 1991. That same year, on the recommendation of Senator John McCain, President George H. W. Bush nominated Judge Roll to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, where he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate and received his commission on November 25, 1991.
He became Chief Judge of the District in 2006, a position he held until his death in 2011. Over his federal judicial career, Judge Roll authored more than 850 diverse opinions.
A devout Roman Catholic and Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, Judge Roll was known for his conservative values and deep sense of justice. He was married to Maureen Roll for almost 41 years, and together they raised three sons — Robert, Patrick and Christopher.
In honor of his legacy, the new federal courthouse in Yuma, Arizona, bears his name, and he is among those honored in the January 8 Memorial in Tucson, commemorating the lives affected by the tragedy.