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President Smolla keynote speaker at conference on First Amendment
Furman president Rod Smolla is delivering the keynote address this month at a University of Minnesota conference focusing on the First Amendment. The week-long event, “They All Began Here: Minnesota’s Landmark Supreme Court Cases Then and Now,” looks at Minnesota U.S. Supreme Court cases and how the decisions impact First Amendment rights.
Smolla is one of America’s foremost experts on issues relating to freedom of speech, academic freedom and freedom of the press. Prior to coming to Furman, he served three years as Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer Professor of Law at Washington and Lee School of Law. He has also been Dean and Allen Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law as well as Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William & Mary.
During his legal career, Smolla has presented arguments in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. A native of the Chicago area, he is a 1975 graduate of Yale University and graduated first in his class from Duke University Law School in 1978.