Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson of the North Carolina Supreme Court will be the graduation speaker at the North Carolina Central University School of Law commencement ceremony on May 3, 2008 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park at 1:00 p.m. 

Following her investiture on 7 February 2006, Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson became the 95th North Carolinian to sit on the State Supreme Court. Her presence on the seven-member body marked the first time in the history of the Supreme Court of North Carolina that an African American woman sat as a Justice and the first time in the Court’s history that two women sit as Justices at the same time. She brought 21 years of judicial experience to the Supreme Court.

Born in Florence, South Carolina, Justice Timmons-Goodson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was inducted into the Order of the Valkyries and the Order of the Old Well. Justice Timmons-Goodson received her Juris Doctorate from the UNC-School of Law.
 
Her legal career has included service as a prosecutor and legal aid lawyer. In 1984, at the age of 29, Justice Timmons-Goodson was appointed to the district court bench. She was elected in 1986 and subsequently was re-elected twice without opposition. In 1997 she was appointed as judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and in 1998 was elected to a full term. Her election marked the first occasion that an African American woman was elected to a North Carolina appellate court.