Judge Ruby Kless Sondock Lectureship in Legal Ethics Jurist-In-Residence

Dean Leonard M. Baynes
cordially invites you and a guest to an event honoring

2017 Judge Ruby Kless Sondock Lectureship in Legal Ethics Jurist-In-Residence

Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Monday, April 3, 2017

2017 Sondock Jurist-In-Residence
Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Roger L. Gregory, Chief Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, is a native of Petersburg, Virginia. Judge Gregory is the first African American to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. President William J. Clinton recess appointed him to the Court on December 27, 2000. President George W. Bush also nominated him, and the Senate confirmed his lifetime appointment in July 2001. Judge Gregory is the only person in the history of the United States to be appointed to the United States Court of Appeals by two Presidents of different political parties.

Judge Gregory received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Virginia State University in 1975 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1978. He began his legal career with the firm of Butzel, Long, Gust, Klein & Van Zile in Detroit, Michigan. He later associated with the firm of Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia. In 1982, he formed the law firm of Wilder & Gregory with L. Douglas Wilder who was later elected Governor of Virginia. He practiced law at the firm until his appointment to the bench.

Judge Gregory has served as Chair for the Committee on the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. He served on the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Commission established by the President and Congress to commemorate that landmark decision. He has served on the American Bar Association's Commission on the American Jury, the Standing Committee on Gavel Awards, and the Standing Committee on Public Education. He served as president of the Old Dominion Bar Association. He is a past rector of the Board of Visitors for Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served on the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University and also, as an adjunct professor of Constitutional Law.

Judge Gregory has received numerous awards which include the National Bar Association's Gertrude E. Rush and Equal Justice Awards, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews' Humanitarian Award. He received the Thurgood Marshall College Fund's Award of Excellence. He received the University of Richmond School of Law's William Green Award for Professional Excellence. He holds honorary degrees from Virginia Union University, Virginia State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Widener University, and Saint Paul's College.

Judge Gregory is a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and presently serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Richmond and the John Marshall Foundation.

Judge Gregory is an active member of Good Shepherd Baptist Church, in Petersburg, Virginia. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Alpha Beta Boulé.

Judge Gregory recently married Velda Edwards. He has three daughters and two granddaughters, and an extended family of three stepsons and four step grandchildren.