Marilyn F. Booker to Speak at Law School’s May 13 Diploma Ceremony
Commencement Speaker Marilyn F. Booker, Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s Urban Markets Group, will deliver the address at William & Mary Law School’s Diploma Ceremony on May 13.
Marilyn F. Booker, Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s Urban Markets Group, will deliver the address at William & Mary Law School’s Diploma Ceremony on May 13.
Degrees will be awarded to approximately 223 students in the J.D. and LL.M. programs. The ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, May 13, at 8:15 a.m. and will be held at the Martha Wren Briggs Amphitheater at Lake Matoaka. Seating will be limited to graduates and their guests.
“We are very excited to have Marilyn Booker as our graduation speaker,” said Blake Willis ’18, President of the Student Bar Association, and Kristin Hopkins ’18, Graduate Student Committee Chair, in a joint statement. “As a Managing Director and Head of the Urban Markets Group at Morgan Stanley, Ms. Booker will be able to offer a unique perspective to the graduating class about what it means to be a lawyer in a changing legal industry.”
“Emphasis on diversity and ethics has been a key driver of Ms. Booker’s success as both a lawyer and financial advisor,” Willis and Hopkins added. “With the College celebrating 50 Years of African Americans in Residence, Ms. Booker’s remarks at Commencement will be timely and appreciated.”
A Morgan Stanley veteran of more than 23 years, Booker also focuses on the urban community and teaches financial education programs across the country. Prior to establishing The Urban Markets Group, Booker was the head of Diversity, Work-Life, EEO and Human Resources Policy for Morgan Stanley. She is an attorney by training, who has practiced in the areas of criminal defense litigation, municipal finance, corporate bankruptcies and corporate restructuring.
Hailing from Chicago, Booker received her B.A. magna cum laude from Spelman College and her J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology-Chicago Kent College of Law. She is a former trustee of the Morgan Stanley Foundation, a member of The Morgan Stanley Benefit Plan Administrative Committee and a former member of the Morgan Stanley Residential Franchise Risk Committee.
Booker is a former board member of the New York Urban League and a member of the Executive Leadership Council. She is also a former board member of the Arthur Ashe Institute of Health and the Michael J. Berkeley Foundation and has served as Co-Chair of the legendary Apollo Theater’s Women’s Committee.
William & Mary President Taylor Reveley, who served as Dean of William & Mary Law School from 1998 to 2008, will also offer remarks at the graduation ceremony. Reveley will retire in June after 20 years at William & Mary.
“It’s wonderful that President Reveley will join us at Commencement,” said Willis and Hopkins. “His service as the President of the College and as Dean of the Law School are worthy of recognition, and we know that what he has to say will be memorable.”
About William & Mary Law School
Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America’s oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.