ASK THE BOARD
Ask the Board
Who spoke at your college or law school graduation and how did the message impact you ?
Foundation Board Dr . Megan T . Hodgkiss Hodgkiss Consulting LLC
LRIS Board James D . Blitch , IV Blitch Law , PC
Atlanta Bar Board Lillian N . Caudle Mercedes-Benz USA LLC
I had the honor of listening to several great college graduation speakers ( ex : Bubba Cathy , the former CEO of Southwest Airlines ), but my hands-down favorite was Lawrence Lessig . Professor Lessig spoke at my law school graduation . He is an attorney , a Harvard and Stanford professor , political activist , and 2016 candidate for the Democratic Party ' s nomination for US President . Lessig is also the founder of Creative Commons and the Center for Internet and Society . Little did I know , as I was listening to Lessig speak about a lawyer ' s role in modern society and his challenge to make the world a less corrupt place , I would soon be studying his work in Communications and IP law for my own doctoral dissertation .
Ted Koppel of ABC ’ s Nightline was the graduation speaker at my graduation from Duke in 1987 . His remarks were extraordinary and centered on the importance of values . I can still remember the remarks and influence well .
Sam Nunn spoke at my graduation from Wake Forest University on May 20 , 1996 . I remember a plea for civility and call to voluntarism , both of which still resonate with me today .
Foundation Board Ryan K . Walsh Jones Day
Ted Turner was our commencement speaker at Brown University in 1993 . Turner had attended Brown in the 1960s , but ( for reasons I have never confirmed ) he was “ asked to leave ” before completing his degree . Brown bestowed an honorary degree upon him at our graduation , which I guess makes him a classmate of mine . I do not recall the subject of his speech , which may be due to the preceding week ’ s festivities or the fact that it was ( yikes ) almost 30 years ago ( probably a bit of both ). However , I do recall that the speech was less than scintillating .
10 May 2022