Preston Tisdale

Preston Tisdale is an attorney at the law firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Beider in Bridgeport, Conn. Previously, he spent 28 years practicing criminal defense law, directing the Fairfield Judicial District Public Defender’s Office and serving as the first director of special public defenders for the State of Connecticut.

A 1973 Brown graduate and Brown parent, Tisdale concentrated in public policy and was a member of the Afro-American Society, Rites & Reasons Theatre, and the Pre-Law Society. He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Tisdale is the immediate past-president of the Brown Alumni Association. He is past president of Brown's Inman Page Black Alumni Council. He served on the University’s advisory councils on admission and diversity, the President’s Leadership Council as well as on the Brown Club of Fairfield County and the Association of Class Leaders. Tisdale received the first Joseph M. Fernandez '85 Award for bringing diverse alumni together to make a positive contribution to the University community.

Beyond Brown, Tisdale is a member of the Public Justice Foundation board of directors. He serves on the Connecticut Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System and on Fairfield County’s Community Foundation board of directors. He is the chair of the Regional Youth/Adult Social Action Partnership board of directors and he has served as Corporate Secretary of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Board. Tisdale is a recipient of the NAACP Distinguished Service Award.