Distinguished Lectures
Distinguished Lecture Series
Each year, important scholars and renowned practitioners deliver distinguished lectures at Vanderbilt Law School sponsored by one of several endowed lecture series. These series include:
The Charles N. Burch Lecture Series
This lecture series recognizes the contributions of Charles N. Burch to Vanderbilt Law School, its students and to the legal profession. Burch, a graduate of Vanderbilt Law School in 1889 and a Founder’s Day medalist in oratory, was deeply devoted to the interests of the school throughout his career. A founding partner in a prominent Memphis law firm, he served as a lecturer in law and a member of the University’s Board of Trust for 30 years. Burch had a distinguished career in the general practice of law and as a General Solicitor of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. He was special master for the Supreme Court of the United States in New Jersey v. New York, 283 U.S. 336. His history of the Supreme Court of Tennessee can be found in 172 Tennessee 880.
The Jonathan I. Charney Lecture in International Law
The Jonathan I. Charney Distinguished Lecture in International Law honors former Vanderbilt University Law School Professor Jonathan I. Charney, one of the world's preeminent experts on international law, who held the Lee S. & Charles A. Speir Chair at the law school until his death in 2002. The series funds academic lectures and other presentations on international law by distinguished figures in the field. Canadian Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin delivered the 2007 Charney Distinguished Lecture in International Law, "Intolerance in the 20th Century: Will the 21st Century Be Better? A Supreme Court Justice's Perspective."
The Cooper Health Policy Lecture Series
The Cooper Health Policy Lecture is an annual lecture series designed to bring a leading thinker on health policy issues to Vanderbilt and the Nashville community. The series honors Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) as well as recognizing the important health policy contributions of the late Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Emeritus, Dr. Roscoe (Ike) Robinson. The Cooper Health Policy Lecture is jointly sponsored by the Health Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies (VIPPS), directed by University Professor James F. Blumstein, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the Regulatory Program at Vanderbilt Law School. The lecture series was organized by Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. Harry Jacobson and Professor Blumstein, who has appointments at the law school and the medical school. The establishment of the lecture series was facilitated by Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Harry Jacobson, Vanderbilt Law School Dean Edward Rubin, Vanderbilt Medical School Dean Steven Gabbe and Dr. Robert Collins of the medical school.
The Victor S. Johnson Lecture
Each year, the Victor S. Johnson Lecture features a distinguished speaker who addresses a certain aspect of the law and its relation to public policy. The lecture is endowed by Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, a 1974 graduate of the Vanderbilt University Law School. The 2007 Johnson Lecture, "The Great Crime Decline of the 1990s: Lessons for Policy and Science," was delivered by Frank Zimring, the William G. Simon professor of Law and Wolfen Distinguished Scholar at the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California-Berkeley
The Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture
This annual lecture, typically scheduled on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, addresses civil rights issues and history. The 2007 Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture was delivered by Rita Geier, a 1964 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School.
Leadership Law Lecture
An annual lecture sponsored by the Leadership Law Program of the Tennessee Bar Association. The 2006 Leadership Law Lecture was delivered by Bob Cooper, legal counsel to Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen.
The Florrie Wilkes Sanders Lecture
The Florrie Wilkes Sanders Lectureship was established by the family of Sylvia Sanders Kelley (B.A., Vanderbilt, 1954) of Atlanta to honor her great-grandfather, Judge John Summerfield Wilkes, and her grandmother, Florrie Wilkes Sanders, who graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1925. Three Sanders lectures have been delivered to date by Katherine M. Franke of Cornell Law School (2006); by Vicki Schultz of Yale Law School (2000), and by Deborah L. Rhode of Stanford Law School (1995).
The Cecil Sims Lecture Series
This lecture series was established in 1972 to "bring to Vanderbilt Law School distinguished men and women with extensive legal experience to associate informally with faculty and students." The lecture series honors Cecil Sims, a 1914 first-honor graduate of Vanderbilt Law School and a founding member of the Nashville-based firm of Bass, Berry & Sims. Sims Lectures have been delivered by U.S. Attorney Generals Elliott L. Richardson, Griffin Bell, William French Smith, Edwin Meese III, and Janet Reno; and Supreme Court Justices William H. Rehnquist, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Antonin Scalia.
