Timothy Wilkins is an American lawyer and chair of the board of directors of New York Public Radio. He is a partner at the international law firm of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and was the firm’s first Black partner in the United States offices.

Early life and education

Wilkins was born in 1964 and grew up in Chicago, IL. He graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory School in 1982. Wilkins graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1986 where he majored in sociology and was president of the Harvard Black Student Association. Wilkins later earned a dual JD/MBA degree from the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

in 1993.

Career

Wilkins began his career as an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. He joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 1999 and spent eight years practicing law in the Tokyo office handling international transactions. In 2016 Wilkins was named the Minority Lawyer of the Year in Private Practice by Chambers USA. He was listed as the highest-ranked lawyer on the Financial Times list of 100 Leading Ethnic Minority Executives and recognized by Empower as a leader on issues of racial justice and equality. In 2019, Wilkins was selected to lead a global team at Freshfields focusing on sustainability, environmental and social issues. Their first assignment focused on ways to solve New York City’s sustainability issues, such as waste, resources, climate change, and job creation. He later co-founded the New York Circular City Initiative, a program to develop a circular economic system that promotes greater employment and a greener environment for the city, including its less advantaged neighborhoods.

Personal life

Wilkins is the brother of Harvard Law professor

David B. Wilkins David B. Wilkins is the Lester Kissel Professor of Law and faculty director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School. He is a senior research fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Harvard Law School's vice dean for global ...

. His father, Julian Wilkins, was the first Black partner at a major law firm in Chicago. He is the grandson of J. Ernest Wilkins Sr. and the nephew of J Ernest Wilkins Jr. He is active in several initiatives to broaden diversity in the law. He is the founding co-chair of the Steering Committee of The Opportunity Agenda, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding equal opportunity. In 2020 he was named among the EMpower Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executive Role Models. Wilkins has served on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the New York City Bar Association and was a member of the Council of Urban Professionals. He has served on several non-profit boards including the New York Public Theater, the City Bar Fund of the New York City Bar Association, and Equality Now. He was also a Committee Member of the Cyrus Vance Center for International Justice and was appointed to the board of New York City Global Partners by Mayor

Bill De Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

in 2015. The mayor later named Wilkins to serve on the New York City Economic Development Corporation. In 2018,

New York Public Radio New York Public Radio (NYPR) is the owner of WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WNYC Studios, WQXR-FM, New Jersey Public Radio, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. Combined, New York Public Radio owns WNYC (AM), WNYC-FM, WQXR-FM, WQXW, WNJT-F ...

, the owner of WNYC, the New York affiliate of National Public Radio, named Wilkins to their board. In 2021, Wilkins was named as chairman of the board of New York Public Radio following a string of high-profile incidents involving claims of harassment and discrimination.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Timothy A. Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Chicago American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American radio executives People associated with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Lawyers from New York City University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni 1964 births Living people 20th-century African-American people Harvard Business School alumni