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Former executive director of the NAACP, Hooks spent almost 18 years as the leader of the world�s largest and oldest civil rights organization. He is an attorney, ordained minister and former judge. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and attended LeMoyne College in Memphis, Tennessee, and Howard University in Washington, D.C. He served in the 92nd Infantry Division in World War II and saw combat in Italy. Following military service, he received the Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. President Richard Nixon appointed him to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In November of 2007, President George W. Bush awarded Hooks with the Presidential Freedom Award. Academically, Hooks has been recognized by Fisk University as Distinguished Professor and by the University of Memphis, where the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change is housed. He has also served as chairman and co-chairman of Children�s Health Forum and the Memphis Civil Rights Museum. | 