The University of Delaware will present the seventh annual James R. Soles Lecture on the Constitution and Citizenship on Friday, Sept. 22, with an address by Delaware Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr.

The free public event will begin at 3 p.m., in Gore Recital Hall of the Roselle Center for the Arts on the University’s Newark campus. A reception in the lobby will follow the lecture.

Strine's topic will be, "Delaware's Constitutional Mirror Test: Our Moral Obligation to Make the Promise of Equality Real: A Reflection on the Re-segregation of Our Schools."

Strine, a UD alumnus, has served as chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court since 2014. He previously was chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery beginning in 2011, after serving as a vice chancellor since 1998.

He speaks at law conferences and institutes across the country, including the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, New York University Center for Law and Business and Duke University.

Strine has written many articles on business law in such publications as Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review and University of Pennsylvania Law Review. He holds long-standing adjunct teaching positions at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, where he continues to teach corporate law.

He has been awarded the Order of the First State and UD’s Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement. Since 2005, he has been named one of the nation’s top lawyers and judges by Lawdragon magazine, and in 2006 he was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Strine earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations at UD in 1985 and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In 2016, he was inducted into UD’s Alumni Wall of Fame.

The Soles Lecture honors the late James R. Soles, who was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science and International Relations for more than 34 years. The annual lecture also commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787, and is held on or near that anniversary date. 

About the James R. Soles Citizenship Endowment

Prof. Soles, who died Oct. 29, 2010, received the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award twice and its Excellence in Advising Award, as well as the University’s Medal of Distinction. He received many honors and recognitions in his distinguished career, but he is still best remembered for his personal dedication to teaching and to his students. 

The Soles endowment was established 15 years ago and supports a named professorship, undergraduate citizenship stipends and graduate fellowships.

The first stipends were awarded more than 10 years ago, and recipients have used that support in a wide range of accomplishments. To see more about recent recipients and the work they have done, visit this site.