Dillard University is proud to announce that the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, will give the inaugural Justice Revius O. Ortique, Jr. Lecture on Law and Society on Nov. 11, 2010. The lecture - and the dedication of the Justice Revius O. Ortique, Jr. Mock Trial Center - will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the new Professional Schools and Sciences Building on the Dillard campus.

After graduating from Dillard University in 1947, Justice Revius O. Ortique, Jr. (left) served in World War II and earned a master's degree from Indiana University. He then earned his J.D. from Southern University Law School. He would serve on five national boards and commissions under five different presidents of the United States. He was the first African American elected to both the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

In 2006, Dillard University President Marvalene Hughes, Ph.D., bestowed upon Justice Ortique an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2008, following a stroke, Justice Ortique passed away and the citizens of New Orleans and the world mourned his loss. He is survived by his wife, Miriam Victorianne Ortique, his daughter and son-in-law, Alden and Rhesa McDonald, and three grandchildren, Heidi, Alden and Todd McDonald. Dillard University is honored to dedicate its new Mock Trial Center and Lecture on Law and Society in his name.

Eric H. Holder, Jr. earned a B.A. in American history from Columbia College in 1973 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1976. After graduation, he joined the Department of Justice through the Attorney General's Honors Program. He was assigned to the newly-formed Public Integrity Section, where he investigated and prosecuted corruption involving officials in local, state and federal government. In 1988, President Reagan appointed Mr. Holder to serve as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Judge Holder to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Holder to serve as Deputy Attorney General of the United States, a position that he held until the end of the Clinton administration.

President Barack Obama nominated Mr. Holder to be Attorney General and his nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on Feb. 2, 2009. Mr. Holder began his service as the eighty-second Attorney General of the United States the next day.