UC Law celebrates 2022 Distinguished Alumni

As Executive Vice President, Katie Blackburn plays a key role in all of the Cincinnati Bengals’ business operations. Blackburn joined the Bengals in October 1991, following her graduation from the UC College of Law and a period of practicing law with the Cincinnati firm of Taft, Stettinius and Hollister. She received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.

Blackburn currently is on the board of Fifth Third Bank, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati and United Way of Greater Cincinnati. She is also a member of the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee, the Commercial Club of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Women’s Executive Forum. She has served on the boards of the Queen City Club, Working in Neighborhoods and Teach for America.

Blackburn and her husband Troy, who is a Vice President for the Bengals, have two daughters, Elizabeth and Caroline.

Judge Alice O. McCollum graduated with her B.A. in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and her J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Prior to joining the bench, Judge McCollum worked at the Legal Aid Society of Dayton as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and ultimately as co-director. She initiated the Pre-Law Program at Wilberforce University, and later became Assistant Professor of Law and Assistant Director of Clinical Legal Studies at UD Law School.

In 1979, Judge McCollum became the first woman on the Dayton Municipal Court where she served for 24 years. In 2002, she was elected Montgomery County Probate Judge — the first woman and first Black to hold this position. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2014 and retired in 2021.

Judge McCollum belongs to several professional and civic organizations and has served on the boards of others, including Dayton Children’s, Sinclair Paralegal Advisory Board, Ohio Supreme Court Sentencing Commission, Ohio Supreme Court Commission on Dispute Resolution, Dayton Legal Heritage Foundation, and Wright State University Foundation. She was the first Black woman president of the Dayton Bar Association and the DBA Foundation. She has received many awards and recognitions for her service to the community, including YWCA Woman of Influence, Dayton Daily News Ten Top Women, the 2019 Skyscrapers Project, and Dayton Area League of Women Voters’ Dangerous Dame of Dayton.

Judge McCollum is a faithful member of Trinity Presbyterian Church where she serves as Elder and sings in the choir. She is also chair of the Leadership Council of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley. She delights in spending her spare time providing cultural and educational experiences for her grandchildren.