PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley Baseball program's all-time steals leader could become the latest Bradley alumni to sit on a federal bench.  The Honorable James Shadid, who played baseball at Bradley from 1976-79, has been selected by President Barack Obama to fill an opening as United States District Judge for Central Illinois.

Shadid's appointment was announced Thursday. He has been nominated to replace U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm, who has opted to join former Bradley men's basketball player Hon. Joe Billy McDade on senior status in the U.S. District Court for Central Illinois.  Currently serving as a Peoria County Circuit Court judge, Shadid's appointment must be approved by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate, a process that likely will continue late into the summer. 

McDade, who has served as a federal judge since 1991 and was the Chief Judge for Central Illinois from 1998-2004, was presented the Bradley athletic department's Orville Nothdurft Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month. He received the University's Distinguished Alumnus and Centurion Awards in 1990.

Other Bradley graduates who have served on the federal bench include:

• Hon. Jeanne Scott '70 was appointed to the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, in 1998; she has announced she will take senior status later this year. Judge Scott was recognized as the Outstanding Young Graduate Award in 1970 and became a Centurion in 1993.
  
• Hon. Howard McKibben, a Bradley track and field athlete in the 1960s, was appointed a judge for the U.S. District Court of Nevada in 1984 and assumed senior status in 2005 after serving as the court's Chief Judge from 1999-2003. McKibben also received the Orville Nothdurft Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
  
• Hon. Robert Morgan '34 was appointed to the federal bench in 1967, serving in the Peoria courthouse until he retired to senior status in 1982. The late Judge Morgan was in the charter class of Bradley Centurions in 1982, when he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
  
• Hon. Michael J. Reagan '76 was appointed to the federal bench from the Southern District of Illinois in 2000.  A graduate of the Saint Louis University School of Law, Judge Reagan formerly was an adjunct professor at the law school, a commissioner for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, and president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association,

On the baseball diamond, Shadid continues to own school records for single-season stolen bases, 30 in 1977, as well as career steals (85) and career triples (12).  His 85 career thefts are 20 more than second-place Chris Allison's 65 stolen bases from 1991-94.  Shadid was selected the team's Most Valuable Player in 1977 and 1978 and he earned the program's Rod Thompson Award as the team's top hitter in 1978 with a .330 season batting average.  He was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985