Marc H. Morial chosen as new president of National Urban League

Jet, June 2, 2003

Former New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial has been chosen as the new president of the National Urban League with group leaders saying he's best suited to invigorate the 93-year-old civil rights organization.

Morial, 45, succeeds Hugh B. Price, who announced his resignation in November 2002.

"I am privileged to be joining the National Urban League at this exciting and critical juncture in our nation's history," said Morial. "The National Urban League has made great strides under the leadership of Hugh Price, and it is strategically positioned to be a great catalyst for progress in our urban communities."

Among Morial's new priorities: increasing fund-raising and getting more people involved in the group. "We are in post-Civil Rights Era where the work of so many organizations is respected in history and not understood in a contemporary context," he said. "And that is going to be one of our challenges, so that people understand what our role is."

Morial says he will move from New Orleans to New York, where the Urban League is based, and he hopes to attract more youths to the Urban League, which has affiliates in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

Morial earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and African American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. He later earned a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1983.

He served as mayor of New Orleans from 1994-2002. He was also president of the United States Conference of Mayors in 2001 and 2002.

Morial was selected from a pool of more than 450 nominees.

"Marc has demonstrated he can run an institution," said Charles Hamilton Jr., chairman of the search committee. "Anyone who can successfully manage a city like New Orleans and turn it around like he has done, demonstrates he has a capacity to lead."

Morial is the father of a 21-year-old daughter, Kemah, who is a junior at Tufts University. He is married to news anchor Michelle Miller and together they have a son, Mason, who was born in April 2002.