The J. Byron McCormick Society of Law and Public Affairs was founded in 1978 to honor Dr. James Byron McCormick (1895-1970), former president of the University of Arizona and dean of the College of Law. His career exemplified a life of devotion to the public affairs of his community, state and nation.
The McCormick Society was created in his honor and to perpetuate his faith in the public discussions that are the lifeblood of a healthy democracy.
Each year, the Society hosts the J. Byron McCormick Lecture on Law and Public Affairs, which brings eminent national and international experts on law and public affairs to speak on the University of Arizona campus.
Recent Event
2021 McCormick Lecture
Jane Mayer, investigative Journalist and author of “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right” delivered the 2021 McCormick Lecture.
On Feb. 18, 2021, Mayer presented “A Post-Mortem on Our Authoritarian Experiment,” followed by a question and answer session moderated by Stephen Golden (‘02) and Professor Nancy Sharkey from the UArizona School of Journalism.
McCormick Society Membership
The McCormick Society and its annual lecture are sustained by one-time membership fees of $500 per family. Under normal conditions, members have reserved seating at the in-person McCormick Lecture, and are invited to attend a no-host dinner with the speaker at the Arizona Inn that is a highlight of the year.
If you would like to join and help support this 40-year-old tradition, please contact Toni Massaro, Regents Professor and Milton O. Riepe Chair in Constitutional Law.
Recent Lectures
ACLU Director David Cole (2020)
Professor Erwin Chemerinsky (2018)
New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak (2018)
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (2016)
Speakers
| 2021-22 | Paul Butler, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center |
| 2020-21 | David Cole, National Legal Director, ACLU, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center |
| 2018-19 | Jane Mayer, staff writer, The New Yorker (re-scheduled for Spring 2021) |
| 2017-18 | Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, University of California, Berkeley School of Law |
| 2016-17 | Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Correspondent, The New York Times |
| 2015-16 | Elena Kagan, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court |
| 2014-15 | Barney Frank, US House of Representatives (Massachusetts) (1981-2013) |
| 2013-14 | Olympia Snowe, United States Senator (Maine) (1995-2013) |
| 2012-13 | Morris Dees, Southern Poverty Law Center |
| 2011-12 | Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research |
| 2010-11 | Neal Katyal, Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law Georgetown Law Center |
| 2009-10 | Joe Nocera, Writer for The New York Times |
| 2008-09 | George Packer, Writer for The New Yorker and Author |
| 2007-08 | Richard J. Goldstone, Justice Constitutional Court of South Africa (Retired) |
| 2006-07 | Frederick Schauer Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment Harvard Kennedy School |
| 2005-06 | John L. McGoldrick Executive Vice President and General Counsel Bristol-Meyers Squibb Company |
| 2004-05 | Samantha Power, Lecturer in Public Policy Harvard Kennedy School |
| 2003-04 | David Brooks, Writer for the New York Times, Political Analyst and Author |
| 2002-03 | Linda Greenhouse, Supreme Court Correspondent The New York Times |
| 2001-02 | Stephen L. Carter William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law Yale Law School |
| 2000-01 | George Mitchell Chairman, International Crisis Group Former U.S. Senator, Maine |
| 1999-00 | Alan K. Simpson, Director, Institute of Politics Harvard Kennedy School Former U.S. Senator, Wyoming |
| 1998-99 | Derek C. Bok, National Chair Common Cause Former President, Harvard University |
| 1997-98 | Richard A. Posner, Chief Judge U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit |
| 1996-97 | Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., Trustee Professor of Law University of Pennsylvania Law School and Stanley Sporkin, Judge U.S. District Court (D.D.C.) |
| 1995-96 | Warren B. Rudman, Former U.S. Senator New Hampshire |
| 1994-95 | Kathleen M. Sullivan, Professor of Law Stanford Law School |
| 1993-94 | Jack B. Weinstein, Judge U.S. District Court (E.D. New York) |
| 1992-93 | Susan Westerberg Prager, Dean UCLA School of Law |
| 1991-92 | John C. Coffee, Jr. Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law |
| 1990-91 | Antonin Scalia, Justice, U.S. Supreme Court |
| 1988-89 | Anthony Kennedy, Justice, U.S. Supreme Court |
| 1987-88 | Lester Thurow, Professor of Economics, M.I.T. |
| 1986-87 | Jesse Choper, Dean University of California, Berkeley School of Law |
| 1985-86 | Shirley Hufstedler, Former Secretary of Education |
| 1984-85 | Alan Furth, President, Southern Pacific Railroad |
| 1983-84 | Rex Lee, Former U.S. Solicitor General |
| 1982-83 | Griffin Bell, Former U.S. Attorney General |
| 1981-82 | Edward D. Re, Judge U.S. Court of Claims |
| 1980-81 | William H. Rehnquist, Justice U.S. Supreme Court |
| 1979-80 | Joseph T. Sneed Judge U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit |