U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary was among 26 judges of Middle Eastern descent recognized Monday by the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce at a dinner in Troy, Mich.

Judge Zouhary, who grew up in Toledo, was the only Ohio-based judge on the list of honorees. His mother was born in what is now Lebanon and immigated to the United States in the 1940s, he said, while his father was born in southern Syria near the Lebanon border and immigrated in the 1920s.

John Akouri, president and chief executive officer of the group, said in a statement, “With one of the earliest law schools known to man having been in Beirut, the practice of law remains a sacred profession within the Arab-American community in the United States, with Michigan leading the nation in judges of Lebanese and Middle Eastern ancestry currently serving on the bench in courthouses across the Great Lakes.”

First Published July 1, 2014, 4:00 a.m.