Eric Holder

See also Wikipedia's article about "Eric Holder".

Eric Holder CC '73 Law '76 is the current Attorney General of the United States, serving under Barack Obama. Holder is the first African-American AG, and succeeds another CC alum, Michael Mukasey.

Unusually for a famous alum, Holder has remained close to his alma mater since graduation, becoming a Columbia trustee and earning a John Jay Award. He gave the Columbia College Class Day speech in May, 2009.

After growing up in Queens, Holder attended Stuyvesant High School and arrived at Columbia in 1969, surviving a succession of roommates before having Carman 301A all to himself freshman year. He played lightweight football and helped with the effort to take over the ROTC lounge and convert it into the Malcolm X Lounge. Although he was radical enough at the time to refuse to sit for junior exams, he says that by senior year he "ran out of issues". He chose to major in American history and spent weekends taking underprivileged neighborhood children to cosmopolitan New York attractions. When he decided to apply to law school, he asked the dean with whom he had been in negotiations over the Malcolm X Lounge for a recommendation. The dean agreed.

Holder served as Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton, and later served on Obama's vice presidential search committee before being named Attorney General.

He is married to Sharon Malone, a 1988 graduate of the Medical School.

External links

• Holder's trustee bio
• New York Times profile
• Report on Columbia College Class Day speech, 2009

Preceded by Joel Klein

Columbia College Class Day Speaker  2009

Succeeded by ?