Akron Law Announcements

Akron Law Federalist Society Spring Fling: A Week of Intellectual Engagement

Thursday, March 29th, 12:30 pm, L-151

Event Title: “Separation of Church and State: Is the Original Intent at Odds with Modern Law?”

Keynote Speaker: David Barton, Founder and President of WallBuilders

Lunch Provider: Spaghetti Warehouse

David Barton’s Bio:

David Barton is the Founder and President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage.

WallBuilders is a name taken from the Old Testament writings of Nehemiah, who led a grassroots movement to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore its strength and honor. In the same way, WallBuilders seeks to energize the grassroots today to become involved in strengthening their communities, states, and nation.

David is the author of numerous best-selling books, with the subjects being drawn largely from his massive library of tens of thousands of original writings from the Founding Era. He also addresses well over 400 groups each year.

His exhaustive research has rendered him an expert in historical and constitutional issues and he serves as a consultant to state and federal legislators, has participated in several cases at the Supreme Court, was involved in the development of the History/Social Studies standards for states such as Texas and California, and has helped produce history textbooks now used in schools across the nation.

A national news organization has described him as “America’s historian,” and Time Magazine called him “a hero to millions – including some powerful politicians. In fact, Time Magazine named him as one of America’s 25 most influential evangelicals.

David has received numerous national and international awards, including Who’s Who in Education, DAR’s Medal of Honor, and the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. His work in media has merited several Angel Awards, Telly Awards, and the Dove Foundation Seal of Approval.

David and his wife Cheryl have three grown children, Damaris, Timothy, and Stephen, and a grandchild, and they reside in Aledo, TX.

Akron Law Federalist Society Spring Fling:  A Week of Intellectual Engagement

Wednesday, March 28th, 12:30 pm, L-151

Event Title: “The Long Term Consequences of the Financial Crisis”

Keynote Speaker: John Allison, Former Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation

John Allison Bio:

John Allison is Retired Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation, the 10th largest financial services holding company headquartered in the U. S. Mr. Allison began his service with BB&T in 1971 and managed a wide variety of responsibilities throughout the bank. He became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected Chairman and CEO in July 1989. During Mr. Allison’s tenure as CEO from 1989 to 2008, BB&T grew from $4.5 billion to $152 billion in assets. In March 2009, he joined the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Business as Distinguished Professor of Practice.

Allison is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his master’s degree in management from Duke University (1974). He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking and has received 6 Honorary Doctorate Degrees. Allison has received the Corning Award for Distinguished Leadership, been inducted into the NC Business Hall of Fame and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Banker. He was recognized by the Harvard Business Review as one of the top 100 most successful CEO’s in the world over the last decade.

He serves on the Board of Visitors at the business schools at Wake Forest, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill, and the Board of Directors of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Allison is married to the former Elizabeth McDonald of Elkin, N.C. They have two sons and one daughter.

Note about this event: This event is possible thanks to a generous grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (www.kauffman.org). The Law & Growth Grant Mission Statement: “The law can hinder attempts to accelerate economic growth and promote innovation, or it can encourage them-ultimately improving or diminishing the living standard for all Americans. This is why the Law and Growth Speaker Series is aimed at educating future policy makers, entrepreneurs, in-house counsels, business attorneys and legal academics about the ways law influences economic growth and prosperity in the United States.”

John Allison’s Forbes.com profile: http://people.forbes.com/profile/john-a-allison/10776

Akron Law Federalist Society Spring Fling:  A Week of Intellectual Engagement

Tuesday, March 27th, 12:30 pm, W-210

Event Title: “Shoot to Kill: Police Use of Deadly Force”

Keynote Speaker: Jack Kress, Director of the Ethics and Justice Center

Commentator: Professor Dana Cole, Akron School of Law

Lunch Provided by Chili’s

Brief event description in the words of Mr. Kress: “I’ll be using a vintage NYPD training film on the police use of deadly force and trying actively to engage the students with it. I intend only very briefly to mention Supreme Court cases, such as Tennessee v. Garner and Graham v. Connor, as I will focus primarily on the students’ experiencing the firearm simulation exercise and therefore better understanding how police experience the decision of whether and when to employ lethal force.”

Jack Kress Bio:

Jack Kress is the author of more than 15 books and 70 articles on issues of ethics and justice; his most recent peer-reviewed article was published in the prestigious American Journal of Transplantation. Professor Kress holds degrees from Columbia University and Cambridge University; he has been tenured and taught at several graduate schools. He has also held numerous positions with local, state and federal government agencies.

In 1990, Professor Kress was named Special Counsel for Ethics and Designated Agency Ethics Official for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, where he worked with the Office of White House Counsel and the U. S. Office of Government Ethics in formulating the federal government’s ethics policies; he concurrently directed the largest federal ethics and bioethics program, encompassing all components of HHS, including the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In 2001, Jack Kress was selected as the first Executive Director of the HHS Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, and led that group in promulgating and implementing more than forty recommendations for reform in America’s donation and transplantation system, including the establishment of the national breakthrough collaborative. From 2004-2009, Professor Kress was a core faculty member of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College. He presently directs the Ethics and Justice Center in Saratoga Springs, New York.