A Champion of Educational Justice

John Latham 79L knows firsthand the difference that scholarship support can make for ambitious students.

The son of an Ohio clothing salesman and an elementary schoolteacher, Latham majored in political science at the University of Toledo, working construction jobs to support his education. Hoping to pursue a career in law, he took courses in constitutional law and civil liberties, but work and study left him time for little else.

At Emory’s School of Law, however, scholarship aid gave Latham the freedom to serve as research editor of the Emory Law Journal and to participate in the Moot Court Society, for which he received the Giles S. Rich National Moot Court Award.

Now a partner at Alston & Bird in Atlanta, Latham is considered one of the nation’s top securities litigation defense lawyers, and he has created a need-based scholarship to help other talented students gain access to an Emory Law education.

“In a just society, it is important for all qualified people to have access to a great education. This is how we will move toward a true meritocracy in America,” he says.

Latham also has served on the Emory Law Advisory Board, and he has been investing in the law school and in the arts at Emory for many years.