Campus News

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to teach at the UGA School of Law

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to teach at the UGA School of Law

Athens, Ga. – Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, will be joining the University of Georgia School of Law as a Carl E. Sanders Political Leadership Scholar this spring. He will be teaching a course on judicial review.

“We are greatly honored and excited to have Newt Gingrich leading a course next semester,” Georgia Law Dean Rebecca H. White said. “We strive to offer our students a variety of learning opportunities, and I am confident that studying under the former speaker will help them better understand the interplay of law, politics and policy.”

A frequent lecturer and author on government ethics and politics, J. Randolph “Randy” Evans will assist Gingrich with teaching the class in the spring.

The Sanders Political Leadership Scholar position is named for Georgia’s 74th Governor and Georgia Law alumnus, Carl E. Sanders. It was created so law students could learn from individuals who have distinguished themselves as leaders in politics or other forms of public service.

Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978, where he served the 6th District of Georgia for 20 years. He served as speaker of the U.S. House from 1995 to 1999. In 1995, he was named TIME magazine’s “Man of the Year.”

Today, Gingrich is still involved in shaping public policy. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is a member of the Terrorism Task Force for the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Commission on National Security and the Defense Policy Board, and he is an advisory board member of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a member of the Defense Policy Board. Gingrich is also an editorial board member of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism and a contributor to FOX News Channel.

He is the author of more than 15 books, including his newest release Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less and the New York Times bestseller Real Change: From the World that Fails to the World that Works. Additionally, he writes a weekly newsletter for Human Events. Gingrich is chairman of the Gingrich Group, founder of the Center for Health Transformation and general chairman of American Solutions for Winning the Future.

A 1983 graduate of Georgia Law, Evans is a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge. He served as counsel to the speakers of the 104th-109th Congresses of the United States. He has also participated and supervised matters on behalf of the Office of the Speaker involving separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Previous Sanders Political Leadership Scholars who have taught a course at the law school include: former U.S. Sen. Wyche Fowler Jr., prominent media personality and political consultant Paul E. Begala, former Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, former U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Theodore “Ted” W. Kassinger, former U.S. Sen. J. Maxwell “Max” Cleland and former Georgia Supreme Court Justice George T. Smith.