The Kansas University School of Law has named three winners of its 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award, the school’s highest honor.

Great Bend attorney Larry Keenan, KU law professor John Peck and U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil will be presented with the awards at a private dinner April 16 in Lawrence, the law school announced Tuesday.

Keenan completed his joint undergraduate and law degree in 1954, according to KU. After three years in the U.S. Army JAG Corps he returned to Great Bend to practice with his older brother at the Keenan Law Firm, where he still practices today. Keenan was Barton County attorney for four years.

Peck received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University in 1968, worked three years for the U.S. Public Health Service and the EPA in Washington, D.C., then began law school at KU, graduating in 1974, according to KU. An authority on water law, Peck joined the KU faculty in 1978. He also is special counsel to Foulston Siefkin LLP.

Vratil completed an American Studies degree in 1971 and law degree in 1975 from KU, according to KU. She practiced 14 years with Lathrop & Gage and was municipal judge for Prairie Village for two years. In 1992, Vratil was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas by President George W. Bush. She was the first woman to serve on the court. She was named chief judge in 2008, serving in that capacity until she assumed senior status in 2014.