Center for Law & Society > Programs > Distinguished Speakers

Distinguished Speakers

Cornell has hosted several notable figures on campus to lecture and meet with pre-law students. Recent guests have included a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, distinguished law school faculty, and prominent attorneys.

Students also have the opportunity to travel locally and nationally to interact with legal professionals. Cornellians have traveled to Washington, DC as part of the Ethics and Public Policy course and students have also gone to Des Moines as part of the Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law to hear a U.S. Supreme Court Justice speak.

Arthur Bonfield		Stephen Carter		William Rehnquist
Antonin Scalia		Clarence Thomas		Sarah Weddington

	Antonin Scalia United States Supreme Court Justice The Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court visited Cornell on May 5 and 6, 1999. He met with sociology, politics and philosophy classes, delivered the inaugural Earhart-Cornell Lecture on Liberal Arts and the Public Square, and responded to critiques of his jurisprudence by philosophy professor Amy Ihlan and politics professor Craig Allin.
Lecture Program News Coverage by the Cedar Rapids Gazette
	Professors Craig Allin (Politics), Amy Ihlan (Philosophy) and William Carroll (History) with Justice Scalia.

Clarence Thomas
United States Supreme Court Justice

Cornell students meet with the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Justice of the United States Supreme Court, during their trip to Washington, D.C. as part of Professor Rob Sutherland's Ethics and Public Policy course.

Pre-law students also heard Justice Thomas speak on the Court's discovery of state sovereignty as part of the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law at Drake University Law School. Cornellians visited Des Moines on September 24, 1999.
Lecture Program

William Rehnquist
United States Supreme Court Chief Justice

Cornell students visited Drake Law School on September 18, to hear the Honorable William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, deliver the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law.

Arthur E. Bonfield
University of Iowa Law School

Arthur Earl Bonfield visited Cornell to accept the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters on September 16, 1999. He is currently the John Murray Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Iowa Law School. Professor Bonfield's teaching and research interests center on state and federal Administrative Law and Constitutional Law.
Lecture Program

Dr. Stephen Carter
Yale University Law School

Dr. Stephen Carter visited Cornell on April 27, 2001, to speak on "Religion and Public Policy in the United States." He delivered the Earhart-Cornell Lecture on the Liberal Arts and the Public Square. Dr. Carter was recently named by Time magazine as one of the 50 young leaders of this century. He is also a prolific author, his most recent work is a nonfiction book entitled God's Name in Vain. In this book, Dr. Carter discusses the role religion plays in American life.
Lecture Program

Dr. Sarah Weddington
Attorney and Founder of the Weddington Center

Dr. Sarah Weddington, the attorney who argued the winning side in the Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortion 25 years ago, spoke at Cornell College on Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998. Her lecture, "Some Leaders are Born Women," was presented in King Chapel. Dr. Weddington is particularly well-known for her work on issues affecting women through her many roles including attorney, legislator, and Presidential advisor. Currently she is practicing law in Austin, Texas, and is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas-Austin.