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1926 - 2004

Donald Lee Hollowell was one of the most renowned attorneys in the United States. Hollowell graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1951 and was a founding partner of the firm Hollowell, Foster & Gepp, P.C. In August of 1993, Black Enterprise Magazine named the Atlanta firm as one of the top ten minority firms in the country.

Mr. Hollowell served as counsel for hundreds of participants in the U. S. Civil Rights Movement. He served as counsel to such prominent figures as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Dr. Hamilton Holmes in their efforts to gain admission to the University of Georgia. He also was counsel to the Honorable Horace T. Ward (now Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia) in pursuing admission to the University of Georgia Law School.

In 1966, Mr. Hollowell was appointed to serve as the Atlanta Regional Director of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After ten years, he transferred to the position of Regional Attorney, in which he was responsible for training and supervising as many as thirty-four lawyers in the preparation and trials of hundreds of cases in employment law involving Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Equal Pay Act.

Mr. Hollowell has been a noted civic and church leader and he has served on numerous institutional boards and commissions. He has been a member of the Boards of Trustees of Spelman College, of the Interdenominational Theological Center, and of the Atlanta University Center.

His contributions to the community and to the world have been recognized by many religious, professional, civic, and social organizations. He was awarded an honorary judgeship from Fulton County, Georgia and has received many other awards for his legal achievements. A professorship, one of the highest marks of distinction within the academic world, has been named in honor of Mr. Hollowell at the Emory University School of Law.

In 1993 the Black Law Students Association of Loyola University Chicago School of Law established the Donald L. Hollowell Distinguished Service Award to honor African-American alumni who have demonstrated excellence in the practice of law and a commitment to community service. In 2003, BLSA presented Mr. Hollowell with the Norman C. Amaker Award of Excellence for his continued dedication and commitment to the service of others.