Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir

Author Bio: Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., (1935–2021) was an author, American business executive, and civil rights activist. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated in 1957 from DePauw University, the only black student in a class of 400. He earned a Juris Doctor at Howard University School of Law in 1960. In the early 1960s, he started his civil rights career, most notably being a part of a team of lawyers that desegregated the University of Georgia. He then continued to work for multiple civil rights organizations until the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, he became a close ally and friend of Bill Clinton and he served as part of Clinton’s transition team. 1983, Barnard College awarded Jordan its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction. In 2001, he was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the NAACP for lifetime achievement. He was an honoree at the New Jewish Home’s Eight over Eighty Gala in 2017. After his death in March, 2021, Howard University School of Law’s library was named in his honor.