Pflugerville Councilman and Chamberlain McHaney attorney Rudy K. Metayer will be honored as an outstanding alumnus of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin on September 20.
Metayer, who earned his executive master in public leadership at the school in 2016, will receive the 2019 Rising Leader Award. The award “recognizes the efforts of a recent alumnus who improves the quality of public service in the United States and abroad at all levels of government and civic engagement.”
The son of Haitian immigrants, Metayer is of the first generation in his family to complete higher education, receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas College of Liberal Arts, the EMPL, and a law degree from University of Texas School of Law.
Metayer is a community advocate, teaching at-risk children; co-authoring an honor code for the university; helping to set up a community policing partnership with local law enforcement and the State Bar of Texas, which he served as a director; and establishing pro bono legal advice clinics for veterans. He has also been named an Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year by the Austin Bar Association and is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
“I’m humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award from my alma mater,” Metayer said in a press release. “The skillset, knowledge and support provided by the LBJ School professors and staff have blessed me with the tools to serve the citizens of Pflugerville and the State Bar of Texas. At [a] time in our country’s history when government is viewed by many with skepticism and faith diminished, the LBJ School is a beacon and reminder of the power of people working together for a common cause to benefit not certain parts of society, but all people. The University of Texas is a special place, and [the] LBJ School is one of its crowning jewels. What starts here really does change the world. Thank you again for this award. I hope to keep making you proud.”