U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to Speak at UK Law
By: Whitney Harder
The University of Kentucky College of Law is pleased to welcome U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to campus next week as the Fall 2015 Roy R. and Virginia F. Ray Distinguished Lecturer. Justice Alito will speak at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.
"A speaker of Justice Alito's stature to UK Law does so much to positively impact our law school, as well as the Commonwealth," said David A. Brennen, dean of the College of Law. "His visit allows our students an opportunity to interact with a member of the highest court in the land; humanizing these distinguished figures and impressing upon our students the importance of the judiciary as one of the many career possibilities of the legal profession."
The lecture will take place in the Gatton College of Business and Economics' new Kincaid Auditorium. Members of the UK community are invited to attend, but seating capacity has been reached and those who sign up now will be placed on a waitlist. Individuals will be notified if any seats become available. To be placed on the wait list, register at http://law.uky.edu/about-us/wait-list-registration-2015-roy-r-and-virginia-f-ray-distinguished-lecture.
Justice Alito was born in Trenton, New Jersey, April 1, 1950. In 1985, he married Martha-Ann Bomgardner, a Kentucky native and University of Kentucky graduate, and they have two children, Philip and Laura. He served as a law clerk for Leonard I. Garth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1976–1977. He was assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, from 1977–1981; assistant to the solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, from 1981–1985; deputy assistant attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, from 1985–1987; and U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, from 1987–1990.
He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990. President George W. Bush nominated him as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat Jan. 31, 2006.
The Roy R. and Virginia F. Ray Distinguished Lecture Series is the pre-eminent lecture series at the UK College of Law. Established in 1977, the Ray Lecture has featured outstanding jurists and public figures discussing legal topics of current interest for almost 40 years. The series is supported by a gift from Roy and Virginia Ray. Roy Ray was a 1928 graduate of the College of Law.
Photo Credit: The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.