Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., was born March 20, 1934 in Mineola, Texas. A graduate of San Francisco State College (now known as California State University, San Francisco) with a BA in Liberal Studies, he also earned his JD from UC Hastings College of Law. He was the fourth African American to serve in the 80-member Assembly when he was elected in 1964. He was the first African American and longest serving Speaker of the Assembly, a top legislative leadership post he held for 16-years. In the early 1980s, he led efforts to divest state university holdings in South Africa during that nation’s apartheid era and was a strong advocate for increased funds for AIDS research. Additionally, he authored landmark legislation that legalized sex between consenting adults in California. He retired from the Assembly in 1995, and was elected Mayor of San Francisco in 1995, until his retirement in 2004. In 2013, legislation to rename the western span of the Bay Bridge, the Willie L. Brown, Jr., bridge was passed. The signs went up in 2014 and Brown said that he hoped having the bridge named for him would be, “inspirational for kids.”