Thomas F. Ryan Lecture

At the time of his death, he was serving as law clerk to Judge John Lewis Smith, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is survived by his wife, Christine Coffey Ryan, and two children, Thomas and Mary.

In addition to his Georgetown Law degree, Tom attended Georgetown Preparatory School and received his A.B. from Georgetown in 1971. In his honor, Hugh A. Grant, an alumnus and long-time benefactor of Georgetown, established The Thomas F. Ryan Lecture.

It is appropriate that this series, which annually enriches the education of the Georgetown community, is named in memory of Thomas F. Ryan, an outstanding young man whose distinguished education and professional career honored his University.

Previous Presenters

2026

Justin Driver
The Fall of Affirmative Action

2024

The Honorable Ann Claire Williams
A Life in the Law: Lessons from the Bench

2023

The Honorable Guido Calabresi
The Missing Buttress in the Cathedral: The Proper Role of Equality in Constitutional Adjudication

2019

Mary Sarah Bilder
The Lady and George Washington: Female Genius in the Age of the Constitution

2018

Craig Steven Wilder
Southward and the West Indies: Colleges and Slavery in the Age of Revolution

2017

Richard R.W. Brooks
Addressing Masters, Slaves, and Servants in the Early American Republic and Our Contemporary Speech Values

2016

George A. Akerlof
Phishing for Phools

2013

T. Alexander Aleinikoff
The International Refugee Regime: Protection without Solutions?

2012

Harold Hongju Koh
Twenty-First Century International Lawmaking

2011

Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella
Why Identity Matters: Human Rights and Diversity

2010

Hans Blix
Joseph Cirincione
Michael Nacht
Diplomacy and the Use of Force to Prevent Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

2009

Susan Heinzelman
When Law and Love Are Not Enough: King Lear and the Spectacle of Terror

2008

David B. Wilkins
From Agents to Partners: Toward a New Model of the Corporate Attorney-Client Relationship

2007

Right Honorable Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, PC, FBA
Human Rights in the Age of Terrorism

2006

William Eskridge, Jr.
Supreme Court Deference to Agencies, 1981-2006: An Empirical and Normative Examination

2005

Christopher Edley, Jr.
K-12 Educational Equity

2004

Lani Guinier
Reflections on the Michigan Affirmative Action Cases

2003

Anne-Marie Slaughter
The New World Order

2002

The Honorable Patricia Wald
The Genocide Trial of General Radoslav Krstic: A War Crimes Case Study

2001

Martha Craven Nussbaum
Shame, Aggression, and Punishment

The Honorable Claire L’Heureux-Dubé
Realizing Equality in the Twentieth Century: The Supreme Court of Canada in Comparative Perspective

1999

Martha L. Minow
Between Vengeance and Forgiveness

1998

Robert H. Mnookin
Lawyer As Negotiator

1997

Cass R. Sunstein
How Law Constructs Preferences: Of Punitive Damages, Tobacco and Related Problems

1996

Justice John L. Murray
The Court of Justice and European Integration: Law or Politics

1995

Walter J. Burghardt, S.J.
Love of Law — Law of Love: Lady Justice and the Judeo-Christian Just

1994

Paul Brest
Does Law School Matter?

1993

Jean Bethke Elshtain
The Politics of Difference

1992

Cornel West
Democracy and the Tragic Sense of Life

1991

Clay S. Jenkinson
An Evening with Thomas Jefferson

1990

Dr. Bernice Sandler
The Classroom Climate: Chilly for Women?

The Honorable Dennis W. Archer
Opportunities for Minorities in the Legal Profession

Craig W. Christensen
The Human Right That Dares Not Speak Its Name: The Gay Experience in Law School

1989

Senator Paul S. Sarbanes
American Foreign Policy: How Great a Great Power?

1988

Anthony Lewis
The 1988 Election and the Future of the Judiciary

1987

Senator Bob Packwood
The Beat Goes On — The Endless Struggle for Our Civil Liberties

1986

Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D.
Medicine and the Courts: Ethics at the Intersection

1985

Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
The Role of Advice and Consent in Constitutional Interpretation

1984

The Honorable Kenneth L. Adelman
Barry E. Carter
Kenneth R. Feinberg, Esquire
The Honorable Stephen J. Solarz
Arms Control Policy Symposium

1983

The Honorable Stephen G. Breyer
Kenneth R. Feinberg, Esquire
The Honorable Elliot H. Levitas
The Honorable Antonin Scalia
Girardeau A. Spann

Legislative Veto Symposium

1982

The Honorable William H. Webster
The Informant, The Undercover Agent and Electronic Surveillance: Serving the Ends of Justice

1981

Edward Bennett Williams, Esquire
Liberty, Equality, and Order — An Impossible Dream?

1979

The Honorable Harry A. Blackmun
The Thomas F. Ryan Inaugural Lecture