NCCU News Service

DURHAM -- Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder, the first African-American to be elected governor of any state, will deliver the commencement address at the N.C. Central University School of Law.

The ceremony will be held May 15 at 1 p.m. in the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham. Nearly 200 students will receive law degrees.

"As we conclude the celebration of our law school's seventieth anniversary, we are excited at having the Honorable Douglas Wilder as the commencement speaker for our graduation ceremony," said Raymond Pierce, Dean of the School of Law. "Gov. Wilder's many historic accomplishments in law and government present him as an excellent model for our graduating students as they prepare to enter the legal profession."

In 1969 Wilder became the first African-American elected to the Virginia State Senate since Reconstruction, and he served until 1985. During his five terms as state senator he sponsored legislation that led to establishing a state holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King -- making Virginia the first state in the nation to have such a holiday. He served as lieutenant governor from 1986 to 1990 and governor from 1990 to 1994. As governor, Wilder was credited with providing sound fiscal management, earning Virginia recognition by Financial Magazine as the best-run state in the country.

Barred by state law from seeking reelection, Wilder left politics after his one term as governor, but in 2004 he won the first at-large election for mayor in the City of Richmond, garnering 80 percent of the vote and carrying every precinct. He served as mayor until 2008. He is currently a distinguished professor at Virginia Commonwealth University L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. He also is the driving force for establishing a national slavery museum in Fredericksburg, Va.

A graduate of Howard University Law School, Wilder is the recipient of more than 36 honorary degrees. Among the many awards he has received are the NAACP Spingarn Medal, the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion of Honor, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Drum Major for Justice Award, B'Nai B'rith's Great American Traditions Award and the Thurgood Marshall Award of Excellence.

In addition to Wilder, other speakers at the commencement will be Agu K. Onuma, Student Bar Association president, who will give the welcome; Sheila Chavis, NCCU School of Law Alumni Association president, and Savaun Murphy-Perry, class president.

The NCCU School of Law admitted its first class in 1940 and was founded to provide African-Americans an opportunity for a legal education. The school continues to attract capable persons from diverse backgrounds. In 2009 the National Jurist Magazine ranked the NCCU Law School the best-value law school in the nation.