The Delaware Community Foundation welcomes Judge Gregory M. Sleet as a new member of its board of directors, filling a newly vacant seat.

The first African American to be appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, Sleet served first as judge, then chief judge and later senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. He served for the District Court for more than 20 years before retiring in fall 2018.

Born in New York City, Sleet graduated from Hampton University, then earned his juris doctor from Rutgers University School of Law, where he was an Earl Warren Scholar. He began his career as an assistant public defender for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, and continued to practice law in Philadelphia until 1990, when he served as deputy attorney general for the Delaware Department of Justice, later joining the law department at Hercules Inc.

Sleet has a wide range of law experience, including civil and criminal litigation, and corporate law. He also served as an adjunct professor teaching patent litigation at Rutgers Law School, Widener University Delaware Law School and Duke University School of Law.

Sleet was vice chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, where he supported the U.S. attorney general in policy and strategy for the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Judge Sleet has demonstrated his dedication to public service in over two decades of experience,” said Stuart Comstock-Gay, DCF president and CEO. “We are honored to welcome him to the DCF board.”