Gregory to receive 2026 Dunnaville Award

Judge Roger L. Gregory of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be the 2026 recipient of the Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award.

Given by the Virginia State Bar Diversity Section, the award is presented annually to a VSB member who exemplifies the section’s goal of encouraging full and equal participation in Virginia’s legal profession.

A Petersburg native, Gregory received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University before earning his law degree from the University of Michigan. Upon returning to Virginia, he worked for Hunton & Williams before co-founding Wilder & Gregory in 1982 with L. Douglas Wilder.

After Wilder began his term as Virginia governor in 1990, Gregory served as the firm’s managing partner before being appointed to the 4th Circuit bench in 2000. He was the first Black judge appointed to the circuit bench and became the first Black chief judge of the 4^th Circuit when he served in that role from 2016 to 2023.

Leadership positions Gregory has held during his career include service as president of the Old Dominion Bar Association and the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia and time as rector of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors.

Richmond attorney Brian T. Wesley of Thornton Wesley nominated Gregory for the award.

“Judge Gregory is the embodiment of an excellent lawyer and jurist,” Wesley said in his nomination letter. “[He] has routinely ensured that the rule of law is observed and protected for all citizens of the Commonwealth, the Fourth Circuit, and the country.”

Gregory will be presented with the award on June 5 at VSB’s annual meeting in Virginia Beach.