Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Thomas J. Morgan
Journal Staff Writer

WARWICK -- Retired Chief Justice Frank J. Williams of the Rhode Island Supreme Court will deliver the commencement address May 15 at the Community College of Rhode Island, the college announced Friday.

Williams is an author, educator and Abraham Lincoln scholar. His address will commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth.

More than 1,000 students will receive associate degrees and certificates at the ceremony, at 4:30 p.m. in the Vincent A. Cullen Field House on the Knight Campus. More information on commencement is available at CCRI's commencement Web site: http://www.ccri.edu/web/commencement/2009/.

Appointed as chief justice in January 2001, Williams retired on Dec. 30, 2008, when he took senior status as a jurist without administrative duties.

As one of the nation's leading scholars on the life and times of Lincoln, Williams has served on the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission since Congress appointed him in 2000. He is a major collector of Lincolniana, a lecturer before Lincoln and Civil War groups and a scholar whose books include, with Edna Greene Medford and Harold Holzer, "The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views" and "Lincoln Lessons: Reflections on America's Greatest Leader" with William D. Pederson.

Born and raised in Cranston, Williams received his bachelor's degree in government and history from Boston University in 1962. Upon graduation, he served for almost five years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of captain. He served on the East/West border in Germany and in Vietnam, receiving many awards and decorations including the Bronze Star, three Air Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, two Vietnamese Campaign Medals and a Combat Infantryman's Badge. The Republic of Vietnam also awarded him, among other honors, the Gallantry Cross with Silver Star for Valor.

Returning to Rhode Island after his discharge, Williams entered Boston University School of Law and graduated with a J.D. in 1970. He was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1970 and to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in 1976. He subsequently earned a master's degree in taxation and served as a visiting lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design. He is an adjunct professor at Roger Williams University School of Law and the U.S. Naval War College and has received honorary degrees from Lincoln College, Southeastern New England School of Law, Johnson & Wales University, Lincoln Memorial University, Roger Williams University School of Law, Bryant University, Massachusetts School of Law, University of Rhode Island and Oklahoma State University.

In 2003, he was appointed to the Military Commissions Review Panel for tribunals to be held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with the rank of major general. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 created the Court of Military Commission Review on which Williams serves as chief judge.

In his long career in public service, Williams served as a solicitor and arbitrator for a number of Rhode Island towns and communities. He was twice elected town moderator of Richmond and was elected a delegate to the 1986 Rhode Island Constitutional Convention. He was appointed chairman of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation in 1995. In addition, he served in several judicial capacities, including judge of probate, member and later chairman of the state's Board of Bar Examiners and member of several arbitration and legal advisory panels. Lawdragon, a source for legal news and lawyer profiles, has named him as one of the top 500 judges out of 30,000 in the United States.

 Tags  Community College of Rhode Island Rhode Island Supreme Court

Comments

rykiela said:

that was a good sepch you rock justice williams

Link | September 21, 2009 3:33 PM
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