Angelica Didier Light ‘75L to Deliver Law Commencement Address Commencement is scheduled for Friday, May 16 beginning at 10 a.m. on the lawn in front of University Chapel.

By Law Communications
April 14, 2025

Angelica Didier Light, a 1975 graduate of the School of Law and a member of the first class of women graduates, will serve as the law school’s commencement speaker for the Class of 2025 in May.

Commencement is scheduled for Friday, May 16, beginning at 10 a.m. on the lawn in front of University Chapel. The event is open to the public.

After graduating from law school, Light became the first woman attorney to practice in the law department of what was then called Norfolk & Western Railroad in Roanoke, where she practiced for 15 years. While there, in the 1980s, she worked with local environmentalists to convert certain rights-of-way under the federal government’s Rails to Trails program—repurposing abandoned rail lines—and is responsible for establishing the well-known Virginia Creeper Trail, which runs from Abingdon to Damascus through the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.

Light next became the first woman general counsel and vice president at Shenandoah Life Insurance before moving from Roanoke to Norfolk to lead The Norfolk Foundation, a community foundation that would later become the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. As president and CEO, she more than doubled the foundation assets as well as the annual grants and scholarship distributions, growing them to more than $244 million.

In 2015, Light received the Outstanding Alumna Award for exceptional achievements in her career and unselfish service to her community and her alma mater. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College.

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