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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Judge Lockette to serve as 75th FVSU Commencement speaker - May 7

Judge Willie Earl Lockette



Special to the Peachite


An accomplished legal eagle and scholar will give graduating seniors advice to help them navigate life after college during the FVSU commencement ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 7 in the Health and Physical Education Complex. Judge Willie Earl Lockette, chief judge of the Superior Court of Dougherty County and an FVSU alumnus, will serve as the keynote speaker.

Lockette graduated summa cum laude from A. S. Clark High School in Cordele, Ga.; then, earned his bachelor's degree in history and political science from Fort Valley State College in 1971.  At FVSC, Lockette was a Journalism Club member, the Political Science Association president, and The Peachite campus newspaper editor-in-chief. He was also a member of the Sigma Chi Forensic Society, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society.
Lockette graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1974 where he earned his Juris Doctorate. Later that year, he was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia and certified to practice law before the Georgia Supreme Court, Georgia Court of Appeals, the U .S. Districts Courts for the Middle and Northern Districts of Georgia, and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.
He has earned professional diplomas in trial advocacy and general jurisdiction from the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Emory University, College of Law, and the National Judicial College, and University of Nevada-Reno.
The judge started his legal career as a staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program's Inc.'s Georgia Office. He was promoted to managing attorney three years later.
Lockette has served numerous impoverished citizens within the state and litigated several significant cases within Georgia's trial and appellate courts at the state and federal level. For his efforts, Lockette was the first person to receive the Dan Bradley Award for Public Service.
Lockette also served as an adjunct professor of political science, history and public administration at Albany State University. In 1991, the FVSU alum was appointed associate judge of the Magistrate Court of Dougherty County in Albany on a part-time basis. In 1993, he was appointed chief judge of the Magistrate Court on a full-time basis. In 1996, the citizens of Dougherty County elected him as judge of the Superior Court of Dougherty County. He has been re-elected to four additional four-year terms without opposition. He has served as chief judge of the Superior Court of Dougherty County since 2009.
He has received numerous civic religious, social and professional awards. He is an ordained Baptist minister who has been married for 46 years to his wife, Helen. He has four children, 12 grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
For details, call (478) 825-6319.

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