Heather Gerken, dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School, will deliver the University of Georgia School of Law’s 116th Sibley Lecture titled “The Lessons of Lawyering: Why Ours is an Honorable Profession.” The event will take place April 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom of Hirsch Hall and is free and open to the public.
Gerken, whose scholarship focuses on federalism, diversity and dissent, is one of the country’s leading experts on constitutional and election law. She has been published in the Harvard, Yale and Stanford law reviews, and her work has been the subject of four symposia. She and her scholarship have also been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Boston Globe and Time, among others. Politico Magazine in 2017 named Gerken one of The Politico 50, which names idea makers in American politics. She has served as a commentator for multiple media outlets, including NPR, CNN, MSNBC and NBC News.
A Darrow scholar, Gerken received her law degree summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. After law school, she clerked for U.S. District Court for the Ninth District Judge Stephen Reinhardt and U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. She worked as an appellate lawyer in Washington, D.C., before joining the faculty of Harvard Law School in 2000.
Gerken joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2006 and was named dean in 2017. She has won teaching awards at both Yale and Harvard, and was honored as one of the nation’s “twenty-six best law teachers” in a Harvard University Press book.
The Sibley Lecture Series, established in 1964 by the Charles Loridans Foundation of Atlanta in tribute to the late John A. Sibley, is designed to attract outstanding legal scholars of national prominence to the School of Law. Sibley was a 1911 graduate of the law school.
This presentation is also part of the University of Georgia Signature Lecture Series. UGA Signature Lectures feature speakers noted for their broad, multidisciplinary appeal and compelling bodies of work. Many of the lectures are supported by endowments, while others honor notable figures and milestones in the university’s history.
UGA School of Law
Established in 1859, the School of Law is consistently regarded as one of the nation’s top law schools. The school is proud of its longstanding commitment to preparing the next generation of legal leaders and ensuring a strong return on investment for its three degrees – the Juris Doctor, the Master of Laws and the Master in the Study of Law. The school’s accomplished faculty includes nationally and internationally renowned scholars, and its more than 10,000 living graduates are leading figures in law, business and public service throughout the world. Connecting students to these thought leaders and opportunities to serve state and society is central to the school’s mission.
