Neal played football at UW (1949-1950) and participated in Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
He
was given the UW Distinguished Alumni Award in 1984 and was inducted
into the UW Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. The University of Wyoming
awarded Neal with an honorary doctorate in 2003.
College:
Health Sciences
Degree:
B.S. Physical Education (1951)
H.D. (2003)
Jim Neal came to UW to play football under Coach Bowden Wyatt, a
Tennessee native who brought the Tennessee style of football with him.
After attending UW, Neal served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1952 to
1954. He returned to school to earn his law degree from Vanderbilt
University in 1957 and a master's degree in taxation from Georgetown
University in 1960.
He was appointed and served as U.S. attorney for the Middle District of
Tennessee from 1964 to 1966. From 1965 to 1974, he lectured about law at
Vanderbilt University and was also the special assistant to the U.S.
attorney general under Bobby Kennedy. He served as the associate special
prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force from 1973 to
1974. In 1978 he declined nomination for FBI chief. The Tennessee
Democratic Party urged him to run for governor in 1982. He considered
but ultimately rejected the offer. Instead, he was appointed chief
counsel on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Undercover Operations.
During his career Neal worked on such cases as the indictment of Jimmy
Hoffa in 1964, the prosecution of H.R. Haldeman and John Erlichman
during the Watergate trial, the defense of Elvis Presley's personal
physician in the 1980s, and the defense of Exxon in its trial related to
the Valdez oil spill in 1994.
Neal is currently a member of the American Bar Association, the
Nashville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Federal
Bar Association, the National College of District Attorneys, and the
Board of Regents. He has been partner in the law firm of Neal &
Harwell in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1971.
Photo courtesy of UW Photo Service
