Benjamin F. Wilson is the Managing Principal of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., the nation’s largest environmental law firm. His litigation and counseling practice encompasses a wide range of activities in both state and federal courts, involving a host of complex commercial and environmental matters. His clients are major corporations and local government agencies.
A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Mr. Wilson graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth in 1973. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and named both a Rufus Choate Scholar and a Senior Fellow. He was Vice President of his class and a member of the varsity football and track teams. After graduation, he founded a mentoring program to foster academic success by minority college students and has been active in fundraising activities. Mr. Wilson’s three brothers (Harrison ’77, John ‘80, and Richard ’84) also attended Dartmouth. Mr. Wilson received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1976. He is a member of the bars of Georgia and the District of Columbia.
Ben with Ellis Rowe ’74, president of
Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA), during
Club and Group Officers Weekend in Hanover on 2/11/12
In addition to his private law practice, Mr. Wilson served in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice starting in 1979. He appeared on behalf of the government in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Claims, and district courts throughout the nation. While at the Department, he received Special Achievement Awards in recognition of his performance.
Mr. Wilson is active in the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, where he has served for 20 years on the Environmental, Energy and Public Utilities Section (including serving as past Chairman), and the Washington Bar Association. He received the National Bar Association Commercial Section’s coveted Outside Counsel Award for his outstanding work and service on behalf of his clients and for promoting diversity in the legal profession.
Ben and trustee Morton Kondracke ’60 taken at the 12/13/09
Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA) brunch
Mr. Wilson serves as an Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at the Howard University School of Law. He served two terms as Co-Chairman of the Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and in 2009 received the Committee’s Wiley Branton Award for outstanding achievement in civil rights law. The Environmental Leadership Program's Mid-Atlantic Network also honored the work of Mr. Wilson with "A Celebration of Leadership: Remembering Dr. King's Environmental Legacy with Benjamin Wilson."
.jpg)
Ben congratulating Rocky Whitaker ’74 when Rocky received his Dartmouth Alumni Award at the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA) reunion during Homecoming Weekend, 2010
Mr. Wilson was appointed in 2004 to the National Environmental Justice Committee as one of three representatives of corporate America. He was the Co-Chairman of the American Bar Association Environmental Justice Committee, which received the Committee Excellence Award in 2004 for the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. From 1990 to 2004, Mr. Wilson served as Chairman of the Board of Elections and Ethics of the District of Columbia. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Healthy Babies, Inc. and Chairman of the Advisory Board of WAMU public radio.
Holiday Brunch photo taken at a
Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA) breakfast hosted by Ben Wilson in his home on 12/13/09.
Mr. Wilson currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Environmental Law Institute.
