Julius Chambers, a former chancellor at North Carolina Central University and Charlotte attorney whose practice was in the forefront of the civil rights movement in North Carolina, has died, his law firm said Saturday. He was 76.
A statement issued by his law firm, Ferguson Chambers & Sumter, said Chambers died Friday after months of declining health. A specific cause of death wasn’t given.
“Mr. Chambers was not the first lawyer of color to try to address the issues of equality,” firm partner Geraldine Sumter said Saturday. “The thing that Mr. Chambers brought to that struggle was a very focused, determined attitude that things were going to change.”
Chambers, served from 1993 to 2001 as NCCU’s chancellor, the first alumnus to serve in the position.
“Chancellor Chambers was a trailblazer with a long and distinguished career as a revered educator, attorney and author,” NCCU Chancellor Debra Saunders-White said in a statement. “His rich legacy will live on forever at this alma mater through the countless initiatives that began during his tenure and continue to thrive today.”
