V. Robert Payant

Judge V. Robert Payant, known to friends as Bob, was a jurist and legal educator whose career was long anchored in Reno, Nevada, as leader of the National Judicial College. Born in Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on June 25, 1932, he earned his B.S. in English literature from Marquette University in 1954 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Marquette's law school in 1956. He began his career in the practice of law in Iron Mountain, and in 1963 Michigan Governor George Romney appointed him to the Probate and Juvenile court, launching a judicial career in which he subsequently served at all levels of the trial court system. He was elected by his colleagues as president of the Michigan Probate Court Association and later as president of the Michigan District Judges Association.

Invited in 1972 to join the faculty of the National Judicial College, Judge Payant remained affiliated with the Reno-based institution for the rest of his life. He resigned from the Michigan judiciary in 1983 to become Associate Dean of the College, then returned to Michigan for a three-year term as State Court Administrator, directing major improvements to the state's court rules and sentencing guidelines that were adopted as models by many other states. He returned to Reno and served as President and CEO of the National Judicial College from 1990 until his retirement in 1999, when he was granted the title President Emeritus. He made many trips overseas at the invitation of foreign judicial associations and the American government to help create judicial training programs, and continued teaching in the College's international programs during his retirement.

Judge Payant was honored by the American Bar Association, the American Judges Association, and the American Judicature Society, and in 2006 Marquette University Law School awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. Upon his retirement, the Catholic bishops of Nevada asked him to develop a Nevada Catholic Conference as the public voice of the Church, and in that role he testified many times before the Nevada Legislature. He died on September 4, 2018, at his home in Milwaukee at the age of 86.