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Speakers & Conferences

SPEAKERS

 

While academic coursework is the foundation for the development of legal professional skills, Ave Maria law students gain valuable experiences through attendance of school-sponsored lectures, presentations, and conferences. These activities enrich the educational experience and help students begin to apply what they have learned to real-world situations.

Ave Maria Lecture

The Ave Maria Lecture is an address from a nationally recognized public figure on a topic of interest to the law school community. This event provides students with an opportunity to meet and interact with prominent members of the legal profession. Past speakers include:

  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neal M. Gorsuch
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
  • Honorable Kenneth Starr
  • Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III
Distinguished Speaker Series

This series of speakers brings the Law School community together several times each semester to hear presentations by prominent judges, legislators, practicing attorneys, and government officials, often with discussions focusing on issues of interest from a Catholic perspective.

Past Commencement Speakers:
  • 2023  The Most Reverend Borys Gudziak — Archbishop-Metropolitan for the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
  • 2022  William Donohue –President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
  • 2021  Peter Cancro –Chief Executive Officer and Founder Jersey Mike’s Franchising Systems
  • 2020  Callista Gingrich — United States Ambassador to the Holy See
  • 2019  Matt Birk — Founder and Chief Executive Officer Matt Birk and Company, LLC
  • 2018  George Weigel –Distinguished Senior Fellow Ethics and Public Policy Center
  • 2017  Reverend Mitch Pacwa, SJ President and Founder Ignatius Productions
  • 2016  Lou Holtz — University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach 1985-1996
  • 2015  General Peter Pace — United States Marine Corps, Retired 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • 2014  His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze — Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation of Divine Worship And the Discipline of the Sacraments
  • 2013  Carl A. Anderson — Supreme Knight Knights of Columbus
  • 2012  Robert P. George — McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Princeton University
  • 2011  The Honorable Marco Rubio — United States Senate
  • 2010  The Honorable John Ellis “Jeb” Bush — Former Governor of the State of Florida
  • 2009  His Eminence Adam Cardinal Maida — Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Detroit
  • 2008  The Honorable Christopher H. Smith — United States House of Representatives
  • 2007  The Honorable Janice Rogers Brown — United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • 2006  The Honorable Edith B. Clement — United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • 2005  The Honorable R. James Nicholson  — Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  • 2004  The Honorable Clarence Thomas — Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • 2003  The Honorable Samuel D. Brownback — United States Senate
Conference 2022

St John Paul II's Natural Law Legacy & International Human Rights

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