U.S. District Court Judge Ronald S. W. Lew has been named by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise as 1998 "Person of the Year," it was announced yesterday by METNEWS Co-Publisher Jo-Ann W. Grace.

He will be feted at a Jan. 15 dinner in his honor at the Regal Biltmore Hotel and will be spotlighted in the Dec. 31 issue of the METNEWS, Grace said. She said of the jurist:

"Judge Lew is an exceedingly well-liked and highly respected jurist who defies the stereotypical image of a federal judge."

The dinner will be emceed by former District Attorney Robert Philibosian, a partner in the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.

Lew, 57, was appointed to his present post in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan. He was named to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1984 by Gov. George Deukmejian, and to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1982 by Gov. Jerry Brown.

He was in private practice from 1974-82. Prior to that, Lew was a deputy city attorney for two years.

In 1979, Lew served as president of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Assn.

He was honored by Southwestern University School of Law in 1992 as "outstanding judicial officer." Lew received his law degree from Southwestern in 1971.

His undergraduate degree in political science is from Loyola. He received it in 1964.

Former persons of the year include Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Mildred Lillie, 1983; California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, 1984; the late Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Lester Wm. Roth, 1985; the late Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Parker, 1986; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Billy G. Mills (since retired), 1987; then-Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Officer Frank Zolin, 1988; then-Court of Appeal Justice Lynn "Buck" Compton (since retired), 1989; Court of Appeal Justice Miriam Vogel and then-State Bar President Charles Vogel, 1990.

Other past persons of the year are Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer, 1991; Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein, 1992; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Mallano, 1993; Court of Appeal Justice Norman Epstein, 1994; California Attorney General Dan Lungren, 1995, and California Chief Justice Ronald George, 1996; and Los Angeles Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Victor Chavez, 1997.