Melvin Watt

A 1967 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Melvin L. (Mel) Watt (1945-) earned the highest academic average in his class at UNC's Business School. He earned his law degree from Yale University in 1970, and returned to his hometown of Charlotte to practice law.

Watt served in the North Carolina Senate from 1985-86. When another prominent black Charlottean, Harvey Gantt, ran for local and national political offices, Mel Watt managed his campaigns. In 1992, Watt, a Democrat, was elected from the N.C.'s 12th District to the U.S. House of Representatives, and joins Rep. Eva Clayton as one of only two African-Americans elected to Congress from North Carolina since the turn of the century.

He has received honorary degrees from Johnson C. Smith University and N.C. A. & T. University. Watt and his wife, the former Eulada Paysour, have two sons.