Panel Moderator - Judge Donovan Frank
In 1998, Donovan W. Frank was appointed the thirty‑first federal district judge for the District of Minnesota.
Judge Frank was born in Rochester. He graduated from Luther College, magna cum laude, in 1973 and graduated from Hamline University Law School, magna cum laude, in 1977. In 1985, Judge Frank was appointed to the state district court bench and served as the Chief Judge from 1991 to 1996. In 1996, the Minnesota Conference of Chief Judges named Judge Frank Trial Judge of the Year. He is also the recipient of the 2012 Paul G. Herne Award for Disability Rights and the Arc Minnesota Luther Granquist Systems Change Award in 2011 and 2016.
Judge Frank served on the Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force and Minnesota Supreme Court Implementation Committee on Multicultural Diversity and Racial Fairness in the Courts from 1993-1998. He currently serves as Chair of the Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers Board of Directors.