ATHENS, Ga. – U.S. Representative Denise Majette will present a lecture on the University of Georgia campus on Friday, Feb. 27. The event will take place at 11 a.m. in room 105 of the Student Learning Center. Majette’s visit is sponsored by the Office of the President and the Senior Vice President for External Affairs as part of UGA’s Black History Month celebration activities. The event is free and open to the public.
Majette currently represents the Fourth Congressional District of the state of Georgia, which includes portions of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. She was elected freshman class president of the 108th Congress by her Democratic peers, a term she began serving in January 2004. Majette is a member of the budget, small business, and education and the workforce committees. She is also the chairperson of the Democratic caucus’ task force on jobs and the economy. Majette was recently named assistant whip by the house minority whip.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Majette served the State Court of DeKalb County for almost 10 years. She was appointed to the court by then-Gov. Zell Miller in 1993. Majette had served in a variety of public positions since 1983, including a law assistant for the Georgia Court of Appeals; special assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia; and administrative law judge for the Atlanta office of the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
Majette has won many community and professional awards during her career. In 2001 she won the Judge’s Community Recognition Award presented by the Black Law Students Association at Georgia State University. She also received the “You Go Girl” Award from the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys in 1998 and again in 2003.
In 1972, Majette entered Yale University, and was one of the first African-American women to attend that institution. She graduated from the Duke University School of Law in 1979, and immediately went to work for the Legal Aid Society of Winston-Salem, N.C.
Majette is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. She currently resides in Stone Mountain with her husband, Rogers Mitchell Jr., and their two sons.
