New academicians of the arts and sciences
HLS Professors William J. Stuntz and Elizabeth Warren were elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious scholarly societies. Stuntz, who writes about criminal justice issues, is currently working on "Fighting Crime," a book about crime, punishment and policing trends in the U.S. and Iraq. Warren, author of "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke," is working on an empirical study of families in economic distress, along with a proposal for Congress to institute safety standards for consumer credit products. The HLS professors, along with Stanford Law Vice Dean Mark Kelman '76 and NYU Law Professor Rick Pildes '83, will be inducted into the academy in October.
Robert Zoellick receives HLSA Award
President of the World Bank Group Robert Zoellick '81 was presented with the Harvard Law School Association Award at a ceremony at HLS in April. More than 100 students packed into a room in Pound Hall to hear Zoellick field questions on subjects ranging from international efforts to combat climate change to the World Trade Organization's 2001 agreements at Doha, Qatar. Zoellick was named the 11th president of the World Bank Group in 2007.
William Coleman at HLS
William T. Coleman Jr. '43, co-author of the Brown v. Board of Education appellants' brief and former secretary of Transportation, was the guest speaker on April 11 for a lecture series sponsored by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. Coleman joined Professor Charles Ogletree '78 for a conversation on race, his life and career, and Houston's legacy. Coleman also spoke April 12 at the Harvard Law Review's annual banquet. He was the third African-American, after Houston '22 and William Hastie '30 S.J.D. '33, to serve on the Review.
Most influential
In May, The National Law Journal named Professor Charles Ogletree '78 one of the 50 most influential minority lawyers in America. The founder and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, he is cited for being "a major voice for equal justice for everyone." Thirteen HLS alumni were also named to the list: Preeta Bansal '89, Peter C.B. Bynoe '76, Roel Campos '79, Morgan Chu '76, R. Ted Cruz '95, John Daniels '74, Christopher Edley Jr. '78, Sergio Galvis '83, Arturo Gonzalez '85, Conrad Harper '65, Ronald Machen '94, John Payton '77, and Theodore V. Wells Jr. '76.
Elizabeth Edwards at HLS
Attorney and author Elizabeth Edwards was the guest speaker at an HLS American Constitution Society event on April 9. Edwards, a visiting fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School this spring, answered questions from HLS students on topics ranging from health care policy to the influence of the media on American politics. She is the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and mother of Cate Edwards '09.
Chapter of the Year
Harvard's Black Law Students Association was recently named Chapter of the Year by the National Black Law Students Association. Judged most dedicated to its members' academic, professional and political development, the HLS association has sponsored more than 150 programs this year, including an Africa summit trip to Tanzania. With nearly 150 members, Harvard's BLSA is the largest black law student chapter in the nation.