By Staff Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE — Before Will A. Gunn served in the White House, defended the rights of military detainees or became the chief legal officer for the nation’s largest funder of civil legal aid, he was a young man growing up in the Fort Lauderdale area, attending Mt. Olive Baptist Church and breaking barriers at Piper High School.
Now, the retired U.S. Air Force colonel and nationally recognized legal leader will receive the American Bar Association’s 2027 Spirit of Excellence Award, bringing national recognition to a career whose beginnings are rooted in Broward County.
Gunn will be honored Jan. 30, 2027, during the Titans for Change Gala at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, held as part of the ABA Midyear Meeting. Presented by the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, the award recognizes lawyers whose accomplishments help advance racial and ethnic diversity within the legal profession.
For Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding community, Gunn’s recognition offers an opportunity to celebrate a local success story built on education, leadership, faith and public service.
A 1976 graduate of Piper High School in Sunrise, Gunn served as the school’s first Black student council president. He earned an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy, graduating in 1980 with military honors, and later graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he served as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, taking on a leadership role in providing legal assistance to people unable to afford an attorney.
That commitment to service has remained a thread throughout his career.
Today, Gunn serves as general counsel and vice president for legal affairs for the Legal Services Corporation, the nation’s largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans. His work supports an organization dedicated to helping people obtain legal assistance when financial circumstances would otherwise place it beyond their reach.
His path to that position includes service under presidents of both major political parties and leadership in military law, veterans’ affairs and youth development.
As a White House Fellow, Gunn served on the staff of President George H. W. Bush. In 2003, he was selected as the first chief defense counsel for the Department of Defense’s Office of Military Commissions. In that historic role, he established the office responsible for defending detainees brought before military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.
The assignment placed him in a consequential role within the military justice system, helping provide a defense for individuals facing proceedings under intense national and international scrutiny.
After retiring from the Air Force as a colonel in 2005, Gunn became president and chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, extending his public service into an organization serving young people.
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him general counsel of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gunn also served as chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, where he advocated for greater representation and inclusion across the legal field.
Announcing the 2027 recipients, commission Chair Jin Y. Hwang emphasized the honorees’ work to challenge inequity, expand access to justice and create opportunities for future generations of lawyers.
“The rule of law is strengthened when our institutions are open to all,” Hwang said.
Gunn’s educational accomplishments extend beyond the Air Force Academy and Harvard. He holds master’s degrees in environmental law from George Washington University, national resource strategy from the National Defense University, and ministry, with a focus on leadership, from Lancaster Bible College.
His honors include an honorary doctorate from Nova Southeastern University and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau’s Outstanding Alumni Award.
Faith and family also remain part of his life. Gunn serves as a minister in his local church. He and his wife, Dawn, have been married for more than 40 years and have three children and four grandchildren.
Joining Gunn as 2027 Spirit of Excellence honorees are legal education and diversity leader Ruthe Catolico Ashley; Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Sabrina Shizue McKenna; Susman Godfrey managing partner Kalpana Srinivasan; and, posthumously, civil rights lawyer and institution builder Drucilla “Dru” Stender Ramey.
For the community where Gunn grew up, the honor connects a national record of achievement to familiar local beginnings: Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Piper High School and a young student willing to step into leadership.
From becoming Piper’s first Black student council president to helping open doors throughout the legal profession, Gunn’s career gives Broward County a story of its own to celebrate.
