Elizabeth Knight is the worthy recipient of the 2022 Phil Adleson Education & Advocacy Award. The award is presented annually to a member who both educates and advocates on behalf of UTA and its membership.
The stringent criteria for the award includes being a ‘master teacher’, who has presented and educated members in a clear and informative manner with excellently researched and prepared materials; advocated before public officials on behalf of the association; and drafted legislation on behalf of the association.
In presenting the award, UTA President Randy Newman said that Knight has “provided critical information as a speaker at sessions at the annual conference, almost every year since 2004, including most recently the ‘Covid Cleanup’ session in 202 and ‘Title Issues You Need to Know’ in 2019’. She has provided best practices perspectives to Trustees on several webinar panels held during Covid and on several dinners on a range of topics for UTA members. She also led a UTA meeting in Washington, D.C. in 2008 on Dodd-Frank.”
Newman added; “She has been a model of service to our industry and to our Association; she has been a leader in providing Trustee education; and she has done it with grace and class every step of the way.”
Knight stated, “I had no words when receiving this award. I tried but my feelings about this are so deep that I can’t express it in words. As most of you know, Phil and I had been good friends for many decades. Not just my friend, my mentor, my confidant, my partner in business ventures, and someone who could make me laugh. He was simply the smartest, wittiest, kindest person I have ever had the pleasure to have in my life. Not only was he all of this but he was the glue that held many things together. Without Phil, I watched long-term partners and ventures fall apart. When he passed, he created a very large hole in many people’s lives.
“This award is so special because of who it was named after and what it represents to those giving it and those receiving it. Thank you to ones that allowed me to share this very special award with everyone who has received it before me and for all of those receiving it after me. I know this sounds extreme but for people had the luck of really knowing Phil, this award is breathtaking. “