U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon to Speak at UA Feb. 9

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon will be the featured speaker for The University of Alabama School of Social Work’s annual African-American Heritage Month Program Friday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m., in 223 Little Hall on the UA campus.

When appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, Clemon became the first and only African-American to be appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

A graduate of Columbia University School of Law, Clemon began his professional career as a civil rights lawyer specializing in job discrimination and school desegregation cases.

From 1968 to 1980, he was a partner in the Birmingham law firm of Adams & Clemon. In 1974, Clemon became one of the first two African-Americans elected to the Alabama Senate since Reconstruction. He served in that body until his appointment to the federal bench.

He has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Law and Justice Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the William H. Hastie Award from the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association. In 1986, he was presented with the National Bar Association’s highest honor, the C. Francis Stradford Award. Clemon is also a founding Board Member of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

For more information about this event, please contact Vickie Whitfield in the School of Social Work at 205/348-3942.