WilmerHale Partner Debo P. Adegbile has been named chair of Connecticut College’s Board of Trustees for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2021. Adegbile, a 1991 graduate of the college, currently serves as vice chair of the board. 

Adegbile is chair of WilmerHale’s Anti-Discrimination Practice, and has significant experience in commercial, government-facing and appellate litigation, as well as in investigations and strategic counseling in high-stakes matters. In 2016 he was appointed by President Obama to a six-year term as a commissioner on the US Commission on Civil Rights.

Adegbile was awarded the Anna Lord Strauss Medal at his Connecticut College commencement in recognition of his outstanding work for the college and community. He is also a recipient of the Agnes Berkeley Leahy award for outstanding alumni service. A national expert on civil rights law, he earned a JD from New York University School of Law in 1994, where he now serves as a trustee. He also serves as vice chair of the board of trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice.

“With his fine legal mind, his disciplinary expertise in civil rights, and his deep understanding of the role of higher education in creating access and in shaping the nation’s future leaders, Debo is uniquely positioned to carry forward our ambitious mission of the liberal arts in action,” said Connecticut College President Katherine Bergeron.

“I came to Connecticut College from the Bronx, New York, to pursue what the late Professor [Arthur] Ferrari would have explained as the better ‘life chances,’ and I draw upon that life-changing experience daily,” said Adegbile. “Our college is both inspirational and aspirational, and we summoned both over the last several months. Now we look to the future with optimism and resolve to continue to provide the transformative educational environment that starts in New London but reaches far beyond.”