Don M. Roman, Sr.

Lawyer and financial advisor Don M. Roman, Sr. was born on March 4, 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee to Charlie Mae and Leroy Roman. He received his B.A. degree in African American studies from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1971 and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1976.

After graduating from law school, Roman served as a law clerk for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee before becoming an associate in the law firm of Rosenfield, Borod, Bogatin & Kremer PC, Attorneys in 1977. In 1980, he founded Roman and Carpenter, PC Attorneys at Law, where he served as partner until 1984. That same year, Roman worked as general counsel for the Tennessee Valley Center for Minority Economic Development, Inc. Roman joined Arrington & Horne PC, Attorneys as an associate in 1985. In 1988, he transitioned to financial advising as a financial planner for MetLife. He then served as a financial services representative with National Financial Atlanta from 1995 to 1998 before returning to MetLife in 1998, where he served as a financial services representative, financial advisor, and financial planner from 1998 until his retirement in 2016. Roman also provided financial advice in a monthly column in the Atlanta Tribune called “Investment Smarts.” In 2004, Roman was named MetLife’s National Financial Planner of the Year.

Beyond his professional achievements, Roman remains active in the visual arts. He served as president of the board of the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art in Buckhead, Georgia and founded the Roman Gallery in Stone Mountain, Georgia in 2021. In addition, Roman served as board chair of Students Without Mothers, Inc. from 2017 to 2021 and went on to serve as the chairman of the board of directors of the Fulton Senior Services Meals-on-Wheels program and as a member of the board of directors of 100 Black Men of America, the Estate Planning Council of North Georgia, and the Commerce Club of Atlanta. In 2021, Yale University’s Pierson College created the Dawson-Roman Prize in his honor.

Roman resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He has three children, Michael, Alexandria, and Don M. Roman, Jr., as well as one grandchild, Elijah Nasi Roman.

Don M. Roman, Sr. was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 20, 2024 and April 16, 2025.