Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. will present UB’s 41st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration keynote address on Feb. 16 as part of the university’s Distinguished Speakers Series.

Holder, who served as attorney general from 2009-15, will speak at 8 p.m. in Alumni Arena, North Campus.

Ticket information can be found on the Special Events website. United University Professions and TIAA offer discount vouchers for tickets for UB faculty and staff.

UB also is offering Western New York high schools, religious and not-for-profit community service organizations up to 20 free tickets per group to the event through the Distinguished Speakers Series’ Educational Outreach Program. Ticket requests will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last.

Those interested in obtaining these complimentary tickets should visit the Special Events website for more information and to request tickets. The deadline is Feb. 1.

An attorney who served under presidents who include Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Holder was the first African-American attorney general of the United States and the longest-serving attorney general in the nation’s history.

He oversaw the government’s efforts to address critical issues at the intersection of law and public policy, including national security investigations and prosecutions, the defense of voting rights and marriage equality, and reform of the federal criminal justice system. 

He recently signed on to lead the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a newly formed political group aimed at untangling the voting districts some feel are designed to strengthen the power of the Republican Party in Washington and many state capitals. He has said that he believes that the current U.S. districts map threatens the nation’s democracy by providing a system “where the politicians are picking their voters, as opposed to voters making selections about who they want to represent them.”

Holder also will serve as an adviser and outside counsel to the California Legislature to help continue the progress California has made with respect to climate change, health care, civil rights and immigration issues.

His lecture is sponsored by the Minority Faculty and Staff Association.