Fred Gray, JD (LAW '54, HON ‘92) is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award since he is one of the nation's most distinguished civil rights lawyers. His clients have included Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the victims of the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment. He argued or otherwise played a significant role in four landmark Supreme Court cases: Gayle v. Browder (which outlawed segregation in public transportation and vindicated the Montgomery Bus Boycott); NAACP v. Alabama (a major freedom of association case); Gomillion v. Lightfoot (the Tuskegee gerrymandering case that helped to set the stage for the reapportionment cases of the 1960's); and New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (perhaps the greatest and most significant of all First Amendment cases that made clear that public officials generally may not sue their critics for defamation). Mr. Gray is still in full‐time law practice and a past trustee of the University. He truly is the living example of what a ǿմý alumnus can accomplish in a lifetime through the traditions and education of our shared community.