Federal Bankruptcy Judge Randolph Baxter, who retired last month after 25 years on the bench, will be honored at a reception Friday at the Quaker Square Inn Ballroom in Akron.Baxter, a former tank company commander in the Vietnam War who obtained his law degree from the University of Akron School of Law in 1974, retired Aug. 15 after a distinguished career as chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He also sat by assignment as a visiting judge in bankruptcy cases in New York, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida and Delaware.A native of Columbia, Tenn., he was an honor graduate of Tuskegee University, former deputy director of Akron’s Department of Public Services an adjunct professor at Kent State University College of Business (1974-1978) and an adjunct law professor at UA (1989-1998).Baxter’s knowledge of bankruptcy law was so extensive that former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed him in 1995 to a four-year term on the Federal Judicial Center’s Bankruptcy Education Advisory Committee, which developed training programs for the nation’s bankruptcy judges.Meg Matejkovic, associate dean for external programs at UA, said Baxter had been an involved alumnus long before he was appointed to the federal bankruptcy bench in 1985.“He’s so compassionate, and he always thinks of others. We just think the world of him,” Matejkovic said.Friday’s reception for Baxter initially was planned by the Akron/Canton Barristers Club and the UA School of Law, Matejkovic said.But when the Akron Bar Association and the Eta Tau Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha learned of the plans, she said, both organizations asked to help sponsor the event.“It’s very, very flattering,” Baxter said in a phone interview from his home in Richfield. “I’m very humbled by their desire to do this for me.”Before beginning his judicial career, Baxter was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor as a tank platoon leader with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He later rose to the rank of captain and commanded a tank company before resigning his commission and returning to civilian life in 1971.He and his wife, Yvonne, have four children and two granddaughters. In Baxter’s spare time, he plays the trumpet with the Cleveland Clinic Orchestra.The retirement reception Friday, which includes remarks by legal dignitaries, is from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Quaker Square Inn Ballroom, 136 S. Broadway.The event is open to the public with reservations required, organizers said. Those wishing to attend can register at http://uakron.edu/law/alumni.For more information, contact Sue Staats at 330-972-7246 or by email at staats@uakron.edu.Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.