He graduated from the same Harvard law class as presidential hopeful Barack Obama, but Hill Harper took his degree and became a Hollywood star.

On CSI New York, Hill Harper's character helps solve murders but in Baltimore Tuesday, he helped to inspire. He's keynote speaker for the Black Administrators in Child Welfare Conference being held in Baltimore.

"These are people on the front lines, doing the work that all of us should be doing with young people that are falling through the cracks," he said.

And there's a lot more to Harper than his Hollywood good looks. He graduated cum laude from Harvard, where he was classmates with Senator Barack Obama, who contributed to Harper's best-selling motivational book for young African-American men called "Letters to a Young Brother."

"I'm on the National Finance Committee for the Obama campaign and I've been everywhere across this country. I just got in from Ohio doing some great work there and we're hoping for some great results today," he said.

Harper also appears in the Obama YouTube phenomenon video "Yes We Can" and has lots of good things to say about Obama

"First African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and beyond that, just someone who is just amazing in terms of his commitment to community, but also his intelligence and his judgment and so I think he will make an amazing president. He's certainly the best choice we have of the folks left and I'm so happy that Maryland came through for him. And we're going to continue to push to the general election and hopefully have great results today," Harper said.