Fred D. Gray

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Fred D. Gray of Tuskegee will be the keynote speaker at the Honors Day program sponsored by The University of Alabama Black Faculty Staff Association (BFSA) on Wednesday, April 16. The event will begin at 4 p.m. in Sellers Auditorium, Bryant Conference Center, and is open to the public.

Gray’s legal career spans a time period of over 45 years. Highlights of his career include representing Rosa Parks in the famous case City of Montgomery v. Rosa Parks, serving as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first civil rights attorney, and winning an impressive list of civil rights cases.

Gray is the first African-American elected president of the Alabama State Bar Association and is serving for the year 2002-2003. A member of the Alabama and Ohio Bars, Gray is admitted to practice law in the following courts: Supreme Court of Ohio, 1954; Supreme Court of Alabama, 1954; U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, 1955; Supreme Court of the United States, 1956; U.S. Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit, 1958; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, 1963; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1968; U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, 1982; Tax Court, 1968.

Gray served as the 43rd president of the National Bar Association in 1985-86. Currently, he is senior partner in the law firm of Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray and Nathanson, with offices in Montgomery and Tuskegee.

Gray served in the Alabama Legislature from 1970-1974 and was one of the first African-Americans to serve in this institution since reconstruction. He received the Capitol Press Corps Award for the Best Orator in the House of Representatives in 1972, and was a member of the National Society of State Legislators from 1970-1974.

A native of Montgomery, Gray was educated at the Nashville Christian Institute, Nashville, Tenn., Alabama State University in Montgomery, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Gray is married to Carol Porter of Cleveland, Ohio. He is the father of four and the grandfather of six. He serves as an elder of the Tuskegee Church of Christ.

Gray is also an author and his “Bus Ride to Justice,” was released in February 1995 and “The Tuskegee Syphilis Study” was released in May 1998.

Gray will be available in the foyer of Morgan Hall to sign copies of his books immediately following the program. The event is part of UA Honors Week, which is being held from April 14-18. For more information, contact Elva E. Bradley at 205/348-3921 or ebradley@ctl.ua.edu.