Lawyer among Renaissance Women

There was a year — and the world hasn't changed all that much since then — when Constance Lundberg logged 3,500 billable hours at her law firm.

And those are just the ones she billed.

Lundberg concedes it was an extraordinary time, handling extraordinary legal issues for a Fortune 50 firm. And, she's quick to say, those hours aren't too much over the average worked by many lawyers today; and, that experience led to other interesting experiences along the wide career path she has carved — which includes serving as counsel to the President's Council on Environmental Quality, vice president of an environmental engineering consulting firm, associate dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and, until last year, library director at Brigham Young University.

Those experiences, their diversity and her successes therein, put Lundberg on the shortlist for the 2006 Renaissance Woman award, a new recognition from the Women's Business Center at the Salt Lake Chamber, the Renaissance Society and American Express. Lundberg is one of 10 inaugural award recipients, who also include Anne Burkholder of the YWCA of Salt Lake City and Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini.

The awards, to be presented at a gala Aug. 30 at the Grand America Hotel, will be given to women who "have been working kind of quietly in the community, who are part of organizations that have done something outstanding this year, and/or who have succeeded in their professional lives and are good role models for other women," said Nancy Mitchell, executive director of the Women's Business Center. It is envisioned as an annual event, which also will serve as the center's main fund-raiser.

In addition, this month's gala will honor the 2006 winners of the Alfred P. Sloan award for excellence in workplace flexibility. Seven Utah companies were chosen this year, including two-time winner McKinnon-Mulherin Inc., Carter & Burgess Inc. and the law firm of Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough. Jones Waldo is the only firm to win both the Renaissance and Sloan awards this year.

Lundberg, who returned to private practice at Jones Waldo last year, smiled at the "renaissance woman" designation. But, she said, "I do think that it can be applied to people who reach out and grow, who don't allow themselves to be encapsulated in expectations. And the women I've met in this group (of award recipients), that seems to be really true of them. It's a diverse group, but that's something they have in common."