Duncan School of Law Dean Will Speak to Jefferson Democrats, Oct. 22, 2015

Gary Wade

The new dean of the Duncan School of Law will be the featured speaker at the Jefferson County Democratic Party’s Annual Bean Supper in October.

The Honorable Gary Wade, former chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, will address the Democrats’ annual event, which is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the Jefferson County Rescue Squad building in Dandridge.

Wade recently became dean of the Duncan School of Law, which is part of Lincoln Memorial University, coming to the post from the Tennessee Supreme Court, where he had served since 2006. Wade was chief justice of the court from 2012 to 2014. Prior to his stint on the high court, he served as a justice and presiding justice on the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals from 1987 until 2006.

A Sevierville native, Wade, who grew up in one of the few Democratic families in Sevier County, has been successful in six non-partisan local elections in Sevierville and six statewide non-partisan retention elections as judge. He was mayor of Sevierville from 1977 to 1987. In 1993 he was a co-founder of Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a nonprofit advocacy and fund-raising organization that supports the needs of the national park. He is widely honored for his professional and community accomplishments.

Wade graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1970 and the UT College of Law in 1973. He is a 1966 graduate of Sevier County High School.

For more information about the bean supper, contact Jefferson County Democratic chair John Sonnen at Sonnen.john@gmail.com or Mike Dockery at 865 382 4985.