Francis J. Conte Special Service Award
Francis J. Conte Special Service Award
The Francis J. Conte Special Service Award recognizes an individual's extraordinary community service, as reflected in the school's Catholic, Marianist values, and support for the School of Law through donations of time, talent or financial assistance. This award is not reserved for alumni, but may be given to anyone who supports the School of Law.
Judith A. LaMusga ‘06, 2022 Recipient
Judith A. LaMusga epitomizes the spirit of the Francis J. Conte Special Service Award through her commitment to individuals with challenges, extraordinary community service and support for the UD School of Law.
Judith has devoted her career to being a strong advocate for people with disabilities. Upon opening her Dayton-based LaMusga Law Office, LLC in 2007, her primary goal is: “protecting the rights of people with disabilities and working for their families.” Her commitment has included researching pooled trusts options for individuals with disabilities.
Prior to opening her law office, Judith retired from a 35-year career in public service. She served in the positions of Director of Children’s Services, Personnel Officer and Principal of Four Oaks School for the Greene County Board of Mental Retardation from 1976 to 1983.
Judith proceeded to hold multiple leadership roles for the Montgomery County Board of Mental Retardation and Development. She was a school principal, director of education, employment services and management services, and was ultimately selected as superintendent.
Judith’s leadership dates back to her days as a UD law student. She was vice president of Community First and chaired several blood drives in coordination with the Community Blood Center. Her experience also included serving as president of the Elder Law and Estate Planning Society and president of the Honor Council.
She continues to serve her alma mater as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the UD School of Law. Judith has also extended support to the Hartley University of Dayton New Horizons Music.
A strong community advocate, Judith has been a member of various committees for the Greater Dayton United Way; Trustee of the Local Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; The Disability Foundation and a life leader donor for the Community Blood Center. She is currently the chair for the Area Agency on Aging. She has also been the recipient of several accolades; the 2020 Lloyd O"Hara Public Interest Law Award, Access to Justice, the 2007 May Day Legal Award from Alice O McCullum, Judge, Probate Court, the 2002 Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition presented by Dave Hobson, the 2002 inductee into the Warren County Educational Service Center Hall of Fame and in 1987 the Award of Distinction from the Community Blood Center
Julie Reiter Pellerite ’03, ’09, 2021 Recipient
Julie Reiter Pellerite ’03, ’09 lives and works in Chicago, Illinois at The Law Office of Julie Reiter Pellerite where she serves immigrants in family based and humanitarian immigration legal services. Following graduation from UDSL, Ms. Reiter Pellerite worked for The Resurrection Project – a community-based organization in the southwest side of Chicago –working predominantly within the Mexican-American neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village, and Back of the Yards. While working at The Resurrection Project, Ms. Reiter Pellerite developed the organization’s first immigration legal services program in September 2014. Since 2014, the program has grown and sees clients seeking legal assistance in the areas of DACA, Citizenship, U Visas, VAWA petitions, and family-based petitions. Ms. Reiter Pellerite is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois, and speaks Spanish.
Ms. Reiter Pellerite is an attorney who cares immensely about her immigrant clients and her local community. Her professional philosophy is to compassionately defend and protect the most vulnerable. Ms. Reiter Pellerite’s greatest accomplishment is being the mom to 5 great kids (Elizabeth, Patrick, Violet, Catherine & Clare) who routinely humble and encourage her to seek out a profession of service to others.
Ms. Reiter Pellerite received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies/Human Rights from The University of Dayton, spending many of her summers in Latin America learning Spanish. After college graduation, Ms. Reiter Pellerite volunteered with Franciscans International, a NGO in Geneva, Switzerland, working on its development team. Before law school, Ms. Reiter Pellerite interned at Ayuda, a legal services agency in Washington D.C. that represented local Latin American immigrants. Following that rewarding experience, Ms. Reiter Pellerite decided to attend law school.
While in law school at UDSL Ms. Reiter Pellerite interned for two years with the Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), migrant farmworker project and the Ohio Attorney General’s civil rights section. She graduated from The University of Dayton School of Law with a juris doctorate in 2009, and upon graduation received the Bro. Ray Fitz Commitment to Community award for her dedication to serving low income communities.
Lynn M. Reynolds ’95, 2020 Recipient
Lynn Reynolds currently serves as Deputy General Counsel at CareSource, one of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care plans headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. In her role, she supports Business Development, Finance and Human Resources to achieve the Company’s strategic growth initiatives. Prior to joining CareSource she was Head of Legal for North America, LexisNexis Legal & Professional, where she was responsible for the delivery of legal services to management on a wide range of issues including mergers & acquisitions, antitrust, compliance, litigation and all types of commercial matters. During her tenure, she managed a team of lawyers and staff located in Dayton, New York, Raleigh, Toronto and Manila, Philippines through significant organizational change. Lynn also served as Vice President & Lead Employment Counsel for RELX Inc., the parent company of LexisNexis. Additional roles in Lynn’s career include Of Counsel at Faruki, litigation associate at Chernsky, Heyman & Kress and staff attorney for the Honorable Deborah L. Cook at the Ohio Supreme Court. Lynn is a graduate of the University of Dayton School of Law and has also been an Adjunct Professor in UDSL’s Government Contracting and Procurement Program.
She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project (since 2017). She co-chaired the Annual Campaign for Equal Justice in 2017 and 2018, served on the Executive Leadership Team for Go Red for Women, has served on the Boards of the Dayton Bar Association and Life Essentials and volunteers with ProBono Partnership of Ohio. Lynn is a Fellow of both the Dayton Bar Foundation and Ohio State Bar Foundation. She also served on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Bar Examiners. She has been AV or AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale Hubbell since 2005.
Jeff Mullins '86, '90, 2019 Recipient
Jeff Mullins received the Conte Service Award in recognition of his extraordinary service to both the Dayton community and the School of Law.
Jeff is a member of the Dayton and Ohio Bar Associations, American Health Lawyers Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, the Miami Valley Human Resource Association and the Society for Human Resource Management. He serves on the boards of the Kettering Medical Center Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul and Good Neighbor House. Jeff is also a member of the University of Dayton School of Law Advisory Council and serves as a general counsel for the Ohio Valley Associated Builders and Contractors.
Jeff is the Co-Chair of the 2019 Campaign 4 Equal Justice, the annual fundraising event for ABLE (Advocates for Basic Legal Equality), GDVLP (Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project) and LAWO (Legal Aid of Western Ohio). These organizations provide civil legal needs to low-income individuals who cannot afford legal representation or access to justice.
Jeff received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Dayton and his law degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Dayton School of Law where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Dayton Law Review.
Jeff practices in the areas of health care, construction and labor and employment law with Taft Stettinius & Hollister. He has spent more than 25 years building a successful practice by providing private and public organizations with creative, practical and pro-active advice on how to run a successful operation while complying with a myriad of complex legal requirements. Jeff was named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers 2018 for Labor Law - Management.
He has substantial experience in counseling, advising and defending organizations on issues concerning the Affordable Care Act, the FLSA, Ohio and federal prevailing wage laws (including the Service Contract Act, the Davis Bacon Act and the Walsh Healy Act), the NLRA (including union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining and unfair labor practice charges); the ADA and other anti-discrimination laws, sexual harassment, OSHA and workplace violence and bullying.
Jeff regularly assists clients in the development of personnel policies, affirmative action plans, and all types of employment agreements--including non-competes. He also provides managerial and supervisory training for clients on all aspects of day-to-day human resource issues.
Ellis Jacobs '81, 2017 Recipient
Ellis Jacobs ’81 is a Senior Attorney with Advocates for Basic Equality. He has previously worked as a public defender, a magistrate in landlord/tenant court and as an attorney at the Montgomery County Fair Housing Center.
Not one to follow the crowd, Ellis has consistently been an activist and a voice for the underprivileged, the working poor and the underdog, during his legal career.
In 1995, he helped establish the Dayton Clean Air Coalition to shut down two hazardous waste incinerators in Montgomery County. In 2001, he persuaded the U.S. EPA to continue the removal of drums of hazardous chemicals from the Valley Crest landfill.
In 2003, he worked with the citizens of Jefferson Twp. to convince the US Army not to bring partially treated VX nerve agent to a poorly performing waste facility in a low-income neighborhood. He has won victory for early voting rights insuring early voting guarantees for working Ohioans. He has testified before state legislative committees. He founded the Miami Valley Voter Protection Coalition in 2004 after the U.S. Supreme Court decided the election of 2000.
Recently, Ellis was the lead attorney who successfully represented a group of concerned citizens and filed a federal lawsuit under the Title VI with the Federal Highway Administration, (the first of its kind in the nation) challenging the City of Beavercreek’s refusal to install an RTA bus stop in Beavercreek on the basis the city’s decision had a racially discriminatory impact on African Americans. The FHWA ruled that Beavercreek was not in compliance. The bus stop opened on January 12, 2014.
Honorable Barbara P. Gorman '77, 2016 Recipient
“I would like to nominate Judge Barbara Gorman for the Special Service Award. Judge Gorman was a member of the 1977 graduating class at UDSL. Since that time, she has quietly, and without any effort to draw attention to her work, tirelessly promoted the mission of UDSL."
The Honorable Barbara P. Gorman '77, Presiding Judge of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, has been a General Division judge since 1987. She serves as the Personnel Committee Chair, and serves on the Criminal Practice, Executive, and Budget Committees. She has previously presided over the Common Pleas Court Drug Court and Non-Support Court. Prior to judicial service, Judge Gorman was a teacher in the Dayton School system from 1971-1973. Then from 1977-1987, she was a Montgomery County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. Since 1987, Judge Gorman has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Dayton School of Law.
Judge Gorman received an Honors B.A. from Marquette University in 1970, an M.A. from the University of Dayton in 1974, and her J.D., Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1977. In 1993, Judge Gorman was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Dayton School of Law Alumni Association.
Maureen Anderson, 2015 Recipient
Maureen Anderson is an associate professor and assistant director for public services at Zimmerman Law Library at the University of Dayton School of Law.
It is an honor to nominate Maureen Anderson for a University of Dayton School of Law Francis J. Conte Special Service Award. In addition to her responsibilities as an Associate Professor of Law and reference librarian at the UDSL law library, Maureen has quietly served for the past five years as the Site Administrator for the Dayton Law and Leadership Institute. LLI is a program designed to increase diversity in the legal profession by offering intensive academic and skills-based instruction to many of our community’s most underserved high school students who nevertheless dream of becoming lawyers.
LLI involves a diverse group of participants: students, parents, faculty, and members of our local bar push and pull the program in different directions. Maureen’s patience and leadership hold them all together. She has mentored numerous law and LLI students, many of whom will soon join us as peers; she once reached into her own pocket after one of her LLI students became the victim of a home-invasion robbery; she has attended countless high school award and graduation ceremonies; she ensures that the poorest of her students have bus fare and enough to eat before she lets them leave Keller Hall; and she is a dependable source of encouragement. In short, she treats her students like they are her family. Our alma mater is better—and our profession stronger—because of her service.
Maureen will be stepping down from the LLI program this year, and she simply cannot be replaced. She will continue her service through her role as the faculty advisor for UDSL’s Volunteer Student Law Project, by assisting pro se patrons of the law library, and by coordinating UDSL’s Pro Bono Service Award. Despite her extensive contributions, Maureen actively avoids the spotlight, instead deferring to her students’ successes, and allowing their accomplishments to reflect positively on UDSL and the Dayton LLI program. She has served our school and our community with unmatched and unwavering commitment.
Kathy Lee Ellison ’79, 2014 Recipient
It is with great honor that this year’s award is presented, posthumously, to Kathy Lee Ellison ’79, who lost her battle with breast cancer in January.
Dean Paul McGreal said, “Kathy’s career and her contributions to assisting the underserved truly exemplifies the Marianist mission as she was assisting the poor, caring about her clients, putting purpose before money and notoriety. She was a sole practitioner who provided affordable legal services to working-class families in Dayton for over a third of a century.”
Jeffrey Swillinger of Taft Law wrote in 2009, “Kathy joined a ‘team’ of attorneys assisting the underserved at a monthly free law clinic located at the Wesley Community Center in West Dayton. Long after she should have stayed at home as her illness overcame her best efforts to continue on, and even when she had a brace on her neck due the pervasiveness of the cancer and could hardly speak, she was there in body, mind and spirit. She was an essential contributor to helping those who could not help themselves, until the bitter end.
Ellison was profiled in Judith Ezekiel’s 2002 book, Feminism in the Heartland. This careful documentation shows the ways in which the entire progressive community benefited from foundations laid by the Dayton Women’s Liberation of which Ellison was a founding activist in the 1970’s. She was active in Girl Scouting, the Dayton Jewish Film Festival, fair housing, preservation of the SunWatch Indian Village & Archaeological Park, as well as LUNAFEST, which is a festival of short films by, for and about women and other progressive causes.
Her good friend, Dalma Grandjean ’77, offered brief remarks regarding Ellison’s nomination. Phil Hinrichs, Ellison’s partner and caregiver, accepted the award on behalf of her daughter, Lindsay Meck of New York City.
Josh Lorentz '01, 2013 Recipient
Josh Lorentz is considered an overachiever, with both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science, from Ohio University. Known as a hard worker in his law school days, Lorentz served a Judicial Externship with Judge Merz at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. His positive perspective and attitude towards life and law school, even during the days when most students focus almost exclusively on their studies, was well-known.
Lorentz joined the Intellectual Property Practice Group at the Cincinnati office of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP when he completed his studies at Dayton Law, making partner in January 2008 as a result of his tenacious efforts and enthusiasm for the practice of law. His professional experience includes working with numerous technologies in the chemical/materials, mechanical and electrical engineering arts. While his practice focuses on patent and trademark litigation, it also includes drafting and prosecuting patent and trademark applications; rendering patentability, infringement and trademark registrability and clearance opinions; and licensing of patents and trademarks. He has extensive experience in actions before the International Trademark Commission and he is currently on the firm’s recruiting committee.
Lorentzis involved in many professional associations. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Section of the Cincinnati Bar Association; he is the former Treasurer for the Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association, known as CincyIP; and he belongs to the Ohio State Bar Association, the Licensing Executives Society, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the International Trademark Association.
Ria Farrell Schalnat, another UDSL alum and former President of CincyIP, said, "Josh’s commitment to the IP bar at large is refreshing in the current myopic, recessionary climate. When so many lawyers are focused on just turning over their billables, Josh spends hours of uncompensated time sorting through the budget for CincyIP and keeping the rest of the officers and committees focused on utilizing the money to get the best possible return on investment so that the entire IP bar can benefit. His commitment to strategic planning for CincyIP goes beyond the usual duties of a Treasurer – he is a team player in every sense of the word."
Lorentz has been named an Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Star – five times! - and graciously volunteers his time as a member of the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Area Senior Services and to the United Way Tocqueville Society.
Despite Lorentz's great success in his professional endeavors and the time he dedicates to service outside the legal arena, he always finds time to return to Dayton Law. Lorentz has guest lectured for faculty members, and helped by reviewing and commenting on students’ law review articles in his field of expertise. He also went out of his way to create an unpaid externship for one particularly deserving student, and ensured that student was treated just like the firm’s summer associates in every respect.
According to Tim Swensen, Assistant Dean and Director of Dayton Law’s Career Services Office, "Josh consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of current students and recent graduates. He has interviewed our students regularly for summer and permanent positions at Dinsmore & Shohl and spends countless hours meeting with and counseling students on every facet of their career pursuits. For example, he has conducted mock interviews, critiqued written documents used for various job applications, written letters of recommendation, participated in CSO-related programs, and generally served as a reliable, honest and insightful mentor to dozens of students over the years. His loyalty to Dayton Law cannot be overstated, and his enthusiasm is inspirational and contagious. His achievements are a testament both to his intrinsic qualities and to the education he received at Dayton Law."
Eric Chaffee, 2012 Recipient
Eric Chaffee was director of faculty research, associate professor of law and chair of the Project for Law & Business Ethics at Dayton Law. He is an expert in the areas of business law, criminal law, nonprofit organizations and securities regulation. He regularly presents at CLE programs for Dayton Law alumni and participates in law school activities and alumni events.
He is a prolific scholar and is regularly invited to speak at symposia, conferences, workshops and other events in the United States and abroad. He has been voted Professor of the Year several times by the student body.
Chaffee has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations. He has served as the president and a trustee of the Cleveland Association of Phi Beta Kappa, which annually gives more than 120 awards and scholarships to Northeast Ohio high school students, and as a director and the governance chair of the Domestic Violence Center in Cleveland. He also has served on the board of the Law Academy at Martin Luther King Jr. School for Law and Municipal Careers. He has volunteered with United Way Services and Harvest for Hunger in Cleveland. As a law student, he spent time working at legal aid in both Philadelphia and Xenia.
Prior to coming to the School of Law, Chaffee was an attorney with Jones Day, where he handled civil and criminal matters and gained practical experience in numerous areas of law.
He received his J.D. at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A. at Ohio State. While in law school, he was managing editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law, editor-in-chief of the Penn Law Forum student newspaper and founder of the Penn Law Immigration Clinic.
Thomas Hurney, Jr. '83, 2011 Recipient
Thomas Hurney, Jr., Class of 1983, has long-standing ties to both the University of Dayton and the School of Law. He received a bachelor's in business administration from UD in 1980. Three years later he graduated cum laude from the University of Dayton School of Law. As a law student, he was the comments editor of the Law Review.
Since graduating, Hurney has remained active with the School of Law and regularly interviews students on behalf of his law firm, Jackson Kelly in Charleston, West Virginia. Tom manages Jackson Kelly's litigation practice group.
In 2011, the firm employed 13 Dayton Law graduates, including seven associates, the largest single contingent of Dayton Law attorneys employed by any private employer outside of Ohio. Over the years, Jackson Kelly has hired dozens of other Dayton Law graduates who have moved on to other opportunities where they have flourished, thanks in large part to the tutelage provided by Hurney and his colleagues.
Ria Farrell Schalnat '99, 2010 Recipient
Ria Farrell Schalnat is a patent attorney at Frost Brown Todd, LLC, and has a technology focus in telecommunications, billing, and other software-oriented inventions. Her substantive practice includes prosecution, litigation, due diligence reviews and portfolio management.
She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1999. She worked for several years as a programmer after graduating in 1995 with a B.S. in Computer Science from Northern Kentucky University.
An adjunct professor at the School of Law, Ria teaches the Patent Litigation Capstone. She is a board member of the Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association. She served as president of that organization in 2008 and 2009 and previously as vice president. She is also a member of the Intellectual Property Owners Subcommittee on Open Source. She performs pro bono legal services through Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor in the area of adoption law.
Ria is an amateur chess player and enjoys singing in choirs. She placed first in the 2009 Cardinal Open Chess Tournament for the U1000 Division.
Mike Ledbetter '97, 2009 Recipient
After serving with the 1st Armored Division in Erlangen, West Germany, Mike Ledbetter earned a B.A. from Bowling Green State University and then a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1997.
He worked for 10 years as an associate attorney and partner in a Dayton-based labor law firm. In 2006, Mike established his new office, where he has represented clients in proceedings in state and federal court, in arbitration proceedings, and before administrative agencies. Mike regularly speaks at conferences hosted by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and has authored articles published in the Foundation's Benefits and Compensation Digest.
Mike serves on the Kessler Scholarship Golf Tournament Committee and coordinates the community service project during Alumni Weekend, often bringing his family along to serve and put the university's Catholic, Marianist philosophy into practice.
Terry Ali, Dave Barnette '79 and Jeff Winwood, 2008 Recipients
Terry Ali
Dave Barnette '79
Jeff Winwood
The Honorable G. Jack Davis, Lori Shaw '87 and Thomas P. Whelley II '77, 2007 Recipients
The Honorable G. Jack Davis
Lori Shaw '87
A member of the Legal Profession faculty at the School of Law since 1988, Lori Shaw was appointed dean of students in 2003. She listens to, works with, and counsels students concerning personal and academic issues; serves on the management team for UDSL; and acts as a liaison between students, faculty and members of the administration. She also helps develop and enforce student policies; serves as an advocate for student needs and represents the student body on law school and university committees; oversees and provides leadership for various student programs and organizations; and organizes special events.
She is also the faculty coordinator for the Honorable James J. Gilvary Symposium on Law, Religion and Social Justice. Dean Shaw writes a bimonthly column on legal ethics in the American Bar Association Student Lawyer and previously co-wrote a regular column for the Columbus Bar Journal. She is a recipient of the TWEN Award for Innovation in Teaching from West Group and in 2006 received her second national award from the American Society of Business Publication editors.
Thomas P. Whelley II '77
Tom Whelley has been a consistent and loyal supporter of the law school since graduating in 1977. He is a member of the School of Law’s Advisory Council and teaches civil trial practice at the law school.
He also serves on the boards of the Dayton Early College Academy and the Law Leadership Institute and has served as president of the Legal Aid Society of Dayton and the Dayton Bar Association, and as chair of the Western Ohio Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Whelley is a partner in Dinsmore & Shohl’s Dayton office He has extensive experience in litigating complex business cases, including shareholder disputes, accounting malpractice, broker dealer actions, and other related fields. Previously, he worked at Chernesky, Heyman & Kress and Thompson, Hine & Flory.
“I believe community service is a learned behavior,” Whelley said, crediting his parents, professors and “icons” of the Dayton community for instilling him the importance of service.
In 1994, he received Dayton Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award. While in law school, he was editor-in-chief of the University of Dayton Law Review.
Kel Dickinson and Mary Louise Dreety, 2006 Recipients
Kel Dickinson
Before joining the faculty of the School of Law in 1979, Kel Dickinson practiced in a small law firm in Michigan and served as assistant general counsel and secretary to the Renegotiation Board. The Renegotiation Board was a small federal agency charged by Congress with eliminating excessive profits on nation defense and space contracts and no longer exists.
Professor Dickinson was attracted to the School of Law, which was then only five years old, by its people, faculty, staff and students. He saw an opportunity to have significant impact on the formative years of the institution. He also liked that it was at a major Catholic university, with a beautiful campus in a vibrant and active city.
Originally teaching business courses, he served as associate dean of academic affairs from 1980 to 1983, from 1987 to 1992, and again from 2001 to 2005. In this role, Professor Dickinson had a hand in many of the major developments at the school, including the creation of the Legal Profession Program in the 1980s, and space and budget for Keller Hall in the 1990s.
Mary Louise Dreety
Glen Dewar '89 and Charlie Faruki, 2005 Recipients
Glen Dewar '89
Charlie Faruki
Bruce Snyder, 2000 Recipient
Bruce Snyder
William H. Frapwell '77, The Honorable Daniel G. Gehres '78, Marybeth Rutledge '82 and A.J. Wagner '77, 1999 Recipients
William H. Frapwell '77
The Honorable Daniel G. Gehres '78
Marybeth Rutledge '82
A.J. Wagner '77
A.J. Wagner is a 1977 graduate of the University of Dayton School of Law. He is a former Montgomery County auditor and is a partner in the law firm Shively & Wagner in Dayton. He is also a past president of the law school's Alumni Association.
Wagner received his undergraduate degree in elementary education from the Franciscan University of Stuebenville. He has worked as a teacher, probate court referee, and acting judge in the Dayton Municipal Court before establishing a private legal practice. Wagner has served as a trust officer for Society Bank and is a member of the board of trustees for the Miami Valley Regional Transit authority in 1986. He has also served on the Dayton Civil Service Board.
Involved with other area politicians prior to running for county auditor, Wagner ran the re-election campaign for Mayor Richard Clay Dixon and served as treasurer for County Commission President Chuck Curran during his state senate campaign. Wagner has also sat on the Democratic Central and Executive Committees.