Roderick Royal

Who is Roderick Royal?

Roderick V. Royal is a former Birmingham City Councilman who served as the President of the Birmingham City Council.

Royal served for two months as the 32nd Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama occupying the office in the absence of former mayor Larry Langford who was removed following a criminal conviction in a federal corruption case. Royal took over the post of acting mayor from Carole Smitherman when he was installed as Council president by the newly seated City Council on November 24, 2009. His tenure as Mayor ended when current Mayor William A. Bell, took office on January 26, 2010.

Royal was born and raised in Birmingham and held elected office early in life, as student council president at Carrie A. Tuggle Elementary School. He went on to hold the same position at A. H. Parker High School. Royal then earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Tuskegee University and a master's in public administration at Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri. He later completed a law enforcement program at the University of Alabama.