2020 Distinguished Professor

Professor Donald W. North
Vice Chancellor Donald W. North, Colonel North, the Johnny Cochran Endowed Law Professor at Southern University Law Center (SULC) received his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice and Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Grambling State University. He received his Juris Doctorate Degree from the Southern University Law Center in 1983.
Vice Chancellor North accepted a commission in the Army ROTC Program where he was first branched as a military police officer before being selected as an officer to join the Judge Advocate Generals Corp. He is currently retired from the United States Army, where he received numerous acknowledgments and awards. He is one of the first African American Louisiana Army Judge Advocate General Reservists to be promoted to the rank of Full Colonel.
After serving active on duty during Desert Storm One, Professor North returned to Louisiana to serve as a prosecutor in the Criminal Division of the Louisiana Department of Justice, handling cases in all 64 Louisiana parishes.
In 1998 he was offered a position as a Clinical Professor at SULC, before becoming Director of Clinical Education. Professor North left the Law Clinic in 2013 to become the Director of the Pro Bono Project. In 2015 he began serving as the Director of Experiential Learning and in 2019 Professor North was promoted to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.
Professor North is a member of the American Legion, a three-time member of the Board of Governors, the Law Institute and the Public Defender Board. He serves the Shady Grove First Missionary Baptist Church as Servant Treasurer and Deacon. He works as a volunteer with the Zachary Food Bank; and has served as an Ad Hoc Judge on many occasions in Baton Rouge City Court and operates a client community service program.
He has been married for over thirty-four years to the love of his life, Dr. Jyotibala Joy North, and has two children, Kimberly and Donald.