John Lacy

Shareholder, DeConcini McDonald Yetwin & Lacy P.C.

Director, Global Law Center, College of Law, University of Arizona

2017 Medal of Merit Recipient

John Lacy freely admits that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  He grew up in the smelter town of La Oroya, Peru, the headquarters of Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation where his father, Willard Lacy, was the chief geologist.  When the father was appointed a professor at the College of Mines at The University of Arizona, the young Lacy instinctively knew that his future career would be mining related.  Willard Lacy discouraged his son to go into mining so the son chose law and has been assisting mining clients in matters concerning mineral title, land acquisition and transactional matters.

Aside from practicing mining law, the young Lacy also followed the family teaching tradition, first in college where he found modest success as a long-distance runner and then coached the freshman cross country teams while he was in law school.  He also formed and coached an Army cross country team while stationed at Ft. Huachuca during a four-year service as a Judge Advocate General officer.

Lacy began teaching mining law at The University of Arizona in 1976 as an unpaid adjunct professor.  In 2015, he was approached to direct a new Global Mining Law Center and has since formulated two on-line masters’ degree programs at the University of Arizona’s law school for graduate lawyers and mining professionals.  The program now partners with the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources and offers cross-listing of courses. 

Lacy has been recognized by The University of Arizona with the Distinguished Citizen Award in 1984, the law school’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008, and the Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award in 2009 and Professional Achievement Award in 2017.  Lacy’s teaching efforts were also recognized by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation in 2015 with the Clyde O. Martz Teaching Award.  Further, he also authored a number of professional articles on mining law and is especially proud of those articles co-authored with his father.

The teaching of history has also been one of Lacy’s passions. Lacy, a long-time member of the Arizona Historical Society, was awarded the Al Merito Award in 2009, the Society’s highest honor. He also currently serves as president of the annual Arizona History Convention.

Lacy and his wife, Terry, have been married for more than 50 years and have two children and six grandchildren.

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