On the morning of Tuesday, January 31, Robert James, II '88 was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2022, becoming the twenty-second individual to receive the honor. Mr. James was recognized at a campus assembly among family, friends, fellow alumni, former teachers, students, and faculty.

Mr. James is currently the President & CEO of Carver Financial Corporation and a two-time Chairman of the National Bankers Association. Carver State Bank is one of only 18 remaining black-owned banks in the United States. In 2000, when he joined the bank, there were nearly 50 – with the 2008 recession hitting small, community-focused, and minority-owned banks especially hard. However, through Robert II’s leadership, as well as that of his father, Carver State has been able to weather the storm and, against all odds – grow while still holding true to the bank’s vision of “financial freedom for all” and its mission to “provide the building blocks of financial freedom” to those who are underserved by larger, majority banking institutions.

Robert graduated from Harvard Law School in 1995 and from Howard University in 1992. He is father of one teenage daughter, a member of the Alpha Lambda Boulé of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and enjoys cooking and travel.