U.S. Rep. John Lewis

Emory University reports that an anonymous donor has given the university $1.5 million for the creation of a professorship named in honor of U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

The professorship will be called the John Lewis Chair in Civil Rights and Social Justice.

Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights movement, the last living speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He spoke during Emory University’s graduation ceremony in 2014. He also participated in the 1965 march from Selma, Ala. to Montgomery.

“The gift, given anonymously, funds a professorship which will enable Emory Law to conduct a national search for a scholar with an established academic profile of distinction and a demonstrated desire to promote the rule of law through the study of civil rights,” the university’s announcement says. “The law school has committed to raise an additional $500,000 to fund the chair fully.”

Decaturish has reached out to Lewis’ office for a comment and will update this story when he responds.