Chief District Judge W. Keith Watkins will address Troy University graduates at the University’s Montgomery Campus during fall commencement exercises on Dec. 18.

The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. inside the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts. More than 145 graduates are expected to receive their diplomas during the ceremony.

Judge Watkins was appointed by former President George W. Bush to a vacancy in the Middle District of Alabama in 2005, and was elevated to Chief District Judge in 2011.

A native of Troy, Judge Watkins practiced law in Tuscaloosa for two years and in Troy for 28 years, with a broad general practice.

Among other positions in the bar, Judge Watkins is a Fellow in the Alabama Law Foundation and served as the Bar Commissioner for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit and as a member of the Alabama State Bar Task Force for Alternative Dispute Resolution. He served as the mediator in over 200 civil cases in state and federal courts in Alabama and Georgia prior to taking the bench.

Judge Watkins received his bachelor’s degree in 1973 from Auburn University and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1976. He and his wife have two grown children and four grandchildren.