West Virginia University - News and Information Services
Princeton prof with local ties to discuss natural law, judicial power at WVU Lecture
Robert P. George, Princeton University’s McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Professor of Politics, will present the West Virginia University College of Law’s 11th annual Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture on Public Policy and Ethics at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, in the WVU Lugar Courtroom.
He is the son of Morgantown residents Joseph and Catherine George.
During his lecture, Natural Law, Constitutional Interpretation and Judicial Power, George will question whether judicial power is a matter of natural law or a power conferred by the Constitution.
He will do so by exploring the Supreme Court’s 1965 decision, Griswold vs. Connecticut, which struck down a state anti-contraception statute and the claim that American constitutional law is rooted in natural law concepts.
Professor George is a graduate of SwarthmoreCollege and the HarvardLawSchool. He earned a doctorate in legal philosophy from OxfordUniversity. He is the author of numerous books and articles and is general editor of Princeton’s New Forum Books.
His memberships include the Board of Directors of the Philosophy Education Society and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His many honors include the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, a presidential appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and an appointment as Judicial Fellow at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Ihlenfeld Lectures are made possible through a bequest by the late Charles Ihlenfeld, a prominent attorney from Wheeling and a 1933 graduate of the WVU College of Law. He devoted much of his life to public service.
Also receiving judicial degrees from WVU include his son William J. Ihlenfeld, (’65) and grandson William J. Ihlenfeld II (’97). Both practice law in the Wheeling firm of Ihlenfeld & Ihlenfeld.
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