BATON ROUGE — Law professor Alvin Ray Washington was named the chancellor of the Southern University Law Center on Friday.

Washington joined Southern in 2003 with a background in insurance and civil rights law. Washington's promotion came after a search committee of Southern students, alumni, faculty and staff chose him to take on the role.

“Attorney Washington has a sterling record as an outstanding lawyer and has provided extraordinary leadership as the interim chancellor,” Dennis J. Shields, president of the Southern University System, said. “I will enjoy working with him as the new chancellor of the Law Center.”

Washington studied at Grambling State University and received his law degree from the Southern University Law Center. He served as a military trial lawyer and department head for the claims division in the United States Navy, as well as the special assistant to the United States Attorney General for the Central District of California.

Before joining Southern University's staff, he served as the section chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Louisiana Department of Justice for four years.

“As I step into this role of leading the Southern University Law Center, my primary focus will be on collaborating with our faculty, staff, and students to improve our first-time and ultimate bar passage rates,” Washington said.

Washington's first day as the head of the school is pending a contract approval by the Southern University Board of Supervisors.