We celebrated a Philly civil rights pioneer Judge Leon A. Higginbotham Jr. at a breakfast at Fitler Club. In partnership with the Higginbotham family, the program brought to life the legacy of this monumental figure in history, featuring:
Kenneth C. Frazier
Executive Chairman and former CEO, Merck & Co.
Sherrilyn Ifill
senior fellow at the Ford Foundation and NAACP Legal Defense Fund past president
Kenneth C. Frazier
Executive Chairman and former CEO, Merck & Co.
Kenneth C. Frazier is the Executive Chairman of Merck’s board of directors, a role he began in July 2021, following his retirement from a decade-long tenure as Merck’s President and CEO. Prior to joining Merck, Ken was a Partner with the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, The Business Council, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the American Bar Association. Additionally, he is co-chair of the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council. He sits on the boards of PhRMA, Weill Cornell Medicine, Exxon-Mobil Corporation, and Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia.
Ken’s contributions, especially in the legal, business, and humanitarian fields, have been widely recognized. In addition to his private sector work, Ken is the co-founder and co-chair of OneTen, a coalition committed to upskilling, hiring, and promoting one million Black Americans into family-sustaining jobs.
His honors include: the Anti-Defamation League Courage Against Hate Award, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School, the Legend in Leadership Award from the Yale School of Management, Harvard Law School Association Award, the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for Healthcare, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund National Equal Justice Award, and the National Minority Quality Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Ken received his bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Sherrilyn Ifill
senior fellow at the Ford Foundation and NAACP Legal Defense Fund past president
Sherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer and scholar. She most recently stepped down after 10 years in leadership as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation.
Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, before joining the staff of the LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases for five years. In 1993 Ifill left LDF to join the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. Over twenty years, Ifill taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students, and pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders. Ifill is also a prolific scholar who has published academic articles in leading law journals, and op-eds and commentaries in leading newspapers.
She is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2021. She is a recipient of the Radcliffe Medal, and later this year will receive the Brandeis Medal named for Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, and the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award. Ifill serves on the board of the Mellon Foundation, and on the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Law. Ifill graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Immediately following the breakfast, we dedicated the Higginbotham mural at 46th and Chestnut Street. The original work, titled Famous Warrior, by Philadelphia artist Shawn Theodore honors the Judge’s many achievements and his influence and dedication to the West Philadelphia community.
This project is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors.
Learn about sponsorships on our get involved page. To discuss sponsorship options, contact [email protected]. All proceeds are tax-deductible and go to supporting the production of the mural and dedication events, The Philadelphia Citizen’s social justice coverage and Mural Arts’ social justice programming.