Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff will present “Race, Law and the Struggle for Equality: Missouri Law, Politics and the Dred Scott Case” as the Thomas D. Fulbright Lecture in American History for the Assembly Series at 4 p.m. March 1 in Graham Chapel.
Wolff’s talk is the keynote address for the national symposium “The Dred Scott Case and Its Legacy: Race, Law and the Struggle for Equality,” which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott Case. The symposium runs March 1-3.
The late Gov. Mel Carnahan appointed Wolff to the state Supreme Court in August 1998. Retained in office in the November 2000 general election, Wolff’s term will expire in December 2012. He was elected to a two-year term as chief justice in July 2005.
In addition to the contributions Wolff has made to numerous law reviews and books, he writes the monthly column “Law Matters: Reflections of Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff” published in newspapers statewide.
Wolff was a law professor at Saint Louis University (SLU) from 1975-1998 and held secondary academic appointments in SLU’s Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health.
During a leave from SLU in 1993-94, he served as Carnahan’s chief counsel.
While teaching, Wolff maintained limited trial practice, focusing mainly on health-care and employment law and constitutional issues.
Wolff earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information, call 935-5285 or visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu.