3/30/2016

Widener University Delaware Law School is pleased to announce Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn will serve as speaker for the school’s 42nd commencement.

He will address approximately 235 graduates at the ceremony set for May 21 on the campus green at 3 p.m. The law school is located at 4601 Concord Pike, Wilmington. The media is invited and encouraged to cover the event.

Denn took office in January 2015 and has focused on the issue of reducing violent crime in Delaware. He proposed plans for more police officers on patrol in Wilmington and legislation to crack down on young people caught with guns. He also proposed using bank settlement funds for programs addressing crime and its root causes, including addiction, education, re-entry and housing. He established an Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust.

Denn served as Delaware lieutenant governor from 2008 until he was elected attorney general. In that office, he created a new health insurance program for children of low-income working parents and worked closely with Gov. Jack Markell on a landmark early childhood education program. He was part of the governor’s financial team, helping to balance four state budgets during the recession.

Prior to his term as lieutenant governor, Denn served as the state’s elected insurance commissioner. He worked to pass laws restricting credit scoring and unfair cancellation of homeowners insurance. During his term, workers compensation insurance rates were cut 45 percent saving tens of millions of dollars for Delaware businesses. Denn personally handled cases of hundreds of Delawareans who were being unfairly treated by their insurance companies.

He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a law degree from Yale Law School. He lives near Newark with his wife Michele and their two sons.

“We are delighted to have Attorney General Denn as our commencement speaker,” Dean Rodney A. Smolla said. “Attorney General Denn is a superb lawyer and public servant. He is an exemplar of a life in the law dedicated to the public good. I am sure his remarks will be inspirational to our students.”

Widener University is a metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, applied leadership, and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience.  Its Delaware Law School is the First State’s only law school, providing juris doctor, legal graduate and paralegal degree programs with an emphasis on developing legal professionals who reflect the Delaware Way and its traditions of civility, integrity and mutual respect. The school offers signature programs in corporate and business law, environmental law, family health law and policy, and trial advocacy. Widener University is proud to be tobacco free. Visit delawarelaw.widener.edu for more information.

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