David E. Waters, BA 1999, received the Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences Young Alumni Award at the Eisenhower Circle Celebration at KSU on October 15, 2015. After graduating from KSU, David attended the University of Kansas School of Law on scholarship and also clerked for Kansas State Supreme Court Justice Robert E. Davis. He joined the law firm Lathrop & Gage LLP, in Kansas City and Johnson County, Kansas, following completion of his law degree and quickly made his mark on the greater Kansas City legal community. Now a partner at Lathrop & Gage, he was named a Super Lawyer Missouri and Kansas “Rising Star” from 2012 to 2015 and one of The Best Lawyers in America in Real Estate for 2013-2016. David has also published a number of articles for professional legal publications and regularly speaks on legal issues for various professional associations.
While many things contributed to his success, David believes his KSU education was invaluable. Beyond the basic skills of lucid writing and argumentation, he learned the value of compromise, negotiation and the importance of viewing issues from multiple perspectives while at KSU. A true K-Stater, David is also very involved in his local community. Among a large number of activities, David is on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce, he serves on the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Westwood, and he is active with several economic development organizations. He recently began serving as a mentor for a Kansas City area business incubator to small minority-owned and women-owned construction industry businesses. He also remains an advisor to his fraternity at KSU and emcees its annual alumni dinner and award ceremony most years.
David is thus the consummate K-Stater: highly accomplished in his profession while also being engaged and involved with his community. Needless to say, we are proud that David received this well-deserved honor. We hope that his ties to KSU and to the Department of Political Science remain strong!