Dean's Speaker Series
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law has a well-earned reputation for welcoming distinguished scholars, judges, government officials, and leaders to campus to share their views on important current issues with our community. Our speakers, like our community, have diverse perspectives and believe that we all benefit when we engage in meaningful dialogue with each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Through the years, we have hosted over a dozen Supreme Court Justices on campus to share their varying judicial philosophies, from Harry Blackmun to Sandra Day O'Connor, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Antonin Scalia.
Caruso Law holds several high-profile events each year with esteemed guest speakers, including our annual graduation ceremony and law school dinner, as well as symposia and the William French Smith Lecture Series. In recent years we have hosted speakers such as English Court of Appeals Lord Justice Mary Mance Arden, California Governor Jerry Brown, Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas.
A recent peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Legal Studies examined the political ideologies of all law school faculties and determined that the Pepperdine Caruso faculty is the most ideologically diverse in the country [Adam Bonica (Stanford), Adam Chilton (Chicago), Kyle Rozema (Northwestern), and Maya Sen (Harvard), The Legal Academy's Ideological Uniformity, 47 J. Legal Stud. 1 (2018)]. The chart below has more details of the article's findings.
Caruso Law launched a Dean's Speakers Series in 2019 to enrich the intellectual life
and enhance the diversity of speakers on our campus.
2024-2025 Speakers
Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law
"A Divided Supreme Court: The 2023-24 Term"
September 5, 2024
Gary T. Schwartz Endowed Chair in Law, UCLA
"Election Law Issues in the 2024 Election"
October 30, 2024
Former Chief Legal and Policy Officer, Fox Corporation
"Why a Career in Law and What Does a Career in Law Really Mean"
November 14, 2024
Joseph A. Matson Dean and Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
"Faith and Martin Luther King, Jr."
January 22, 2025
2023-2024 Speakers
Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
"What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense"
April 18, 2024
Attorney, Author, Educator, and Victim Advocate
"Choosing the Harder Right over the Easier Wrong"
March 13, 2024
Vice President, Original Content and Business Affairs ESPN
"The Importance of Movement and Perspectives from a Black Attorney"
February 22, 2024
Professor & Osler Chair in Business Law, Toronto Faculty of Law, CEO Blue J Legal
"The Impact of AI on Legal Education and Law Practice"
November 8, 2023
Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion, Washington University School of Law
"Navigating Deep Differences: Christianity, Law, and Legal Education"
October 26, 2023
Author, Speaker, and Activist — Leads Red Letter Christians
"Amazing Grace: Christianity and Justice"
September 6, 2023
2022-2023 Speakers
Mike Pausen | Distinguished University Chair and Professor, University of St. Thomas School of Law
Barry McDonald | Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
"The Supreme Court's Decision in Dobbs: Law, Politics, or Morality"
February 15, 2023
Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
"Justice and Poverty in Biblical Law"
February 15, 2023
Lecturer of Law at UCLA Law School, Special Advisor to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and Deputy Managing Director at the Federal Communications Commission
"Accessibility, Diversity, and Digital Discrimination"
February 1, 2023
Morse Tan | Dean, Liberty University and Ambassador at Large, U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice
Colleen Graffy | Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Donald Earl (Trey) Childress | Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
"The Role of the State Department in Global Justice"
November 10, 2022
Danny Drysdale | Director, The Prayers of Both Could Not Be Answered documentary
Ed Larsen | University Professor, Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Tom Stipanowich | Professor of Law, William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution, Straus Institute, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
"Abraham Lincoln's Use of the Bible In His Second Inaugural Address "
September 28, 2022
2021–2022 Speakers
Founder, Homeboy Industries
"The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness"
March 31, 2022
Blake Morant | Professor and Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest
Patricia Wilson | Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest
"Faith and Black Leadership"
February 23, 2022
Founder and Executive Director, Justice Revival
"Why Equal Rights? The Story Behind Justice Revival’s #Faith4ERA Campaign"
January 20, 2022
Judge (Ret.) and Of Counsel, Jones Day
"Insights and Lessons Learned"
September 16, 2021
2020-2021 Speakers
Executive Director and CEO, Christian Legal Society
"The Road From Babylon to the Christian Legal Society"
April 7, 2021
Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA
"Protecting Free Speech in 2021 and Beyond"
March 11, 2021
Trauma Therapist and Life Coach and Host, "In The Light with Dr. Anita Phillips"
"Deconstructing Us: Self-Interrogation at the Intersection of Christian Worldview and Social Justice"
February 2, 2021
Eugene Cho | Pastor and President/CEO, Bread for the World
Sharon Brous | Founder and Senior Rabbi, IKAR
"The Intersection of Faith, Social Justice, and Racial Reconciliation"
January 26, 2021
Deputy Global Tax Policy Leader, PwC Assisting Priest for Engaging Faith and the Workplace, St. John's Church (D.C.)
"Where Is God At Work? Love Thy Colleague: Being Authentically Christian at Work"
November 17, 2020
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton
"Campus Illiberalism and the Future of Higher Education"
October 19, 2020
Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University
"Critical Race Theory: Fighting Racial Bias in the 21st Century"
September 14, 2020
2019–2020 Speakers
Professor and Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest
"Preparing the Next Generation of Diverse and Dynamic Leaders"
February 24, 2020
U.S. Solicitor General
"The Rule of Law and the Role of the Solicitor General"
January 20, 2020
Disability Advocate
"The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law"
November 11, 2019
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
"A Republic, If You Can Keep It"
September 11, 2019
Nominate a Speaker
The Pepperdine Caruso Law community is invited to participate in developing a robust
roster of speakers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives for the Dean''s Speaker
Series. Submit a speaker or topic for consideration by completing this form. All submissions will be considered and evaluated based on programming needs.
Ideological Diversity of Caruso Law Faculty
Pepperdine Caruso Law has an almost even split between liberal, moderately liberal, moderately conservative, and conservative law professors. Whereas other universities like Arizon, Colorado, Hastings, Wake Forest, Utah, Florida, and American have more that fifty percent of liberal facutly.
