5/16/04

5/16/04 SENATOR BIDEN SCHEDULED FOR GRADUATION

U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), one of the most prominent Democratic voices on foreign policy issues and a leader on anti-crime and drug policy, will deliver the main address at the Northwestern University School of Law graduation convocation Sunday, May 16, at the Arie Crown Theater, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive.

Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29. During the last three decades, he has been a key player on some of the most important issues facing the country, from national security and civil liberties to international relations and arms control. A former chairman of both the judiciary and foreign relations committees, he currently serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime.

Prior to his election to the Senate, he practiced law in Wilmington, Del., and served two years on the New Castle County Council. Since 1991, Biden has been an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law. He delivered the Alban Weber Foreign Affairs Lecture at Northwestern University School of Law in April 2002.

Henry S. Bienen, president, Northwestern University, and David E. Van Zandt, dean, School of Law, also will deliver remarks. Bill and Barbara Caruso (class of 1961 and 1963) will speak on behalf of alumni, and Daniel R. Johnson (class of 2004) will speak for the graduating class.

Student-voted awards for excellence will be presented by Seamus M. Ryan, president, Student Bar Association (class of 2004). Award recipients include Professor Leonard Rubinowitz (Robert Childres Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence); Professors Chris Guthrie and Richard Hoskins (outstanding first-year course professors); Professor Victor Rosenblum (outstanding professor of a small class); and Howard Nagelberg, senior partner, Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum Perlman & Nagelberg (outstanding adjunct professor). The Wigmore key also will be presented to the graduating student who has done the most to help preserve the traditions of the School of Law.

The class of 2004 includes 206 candidates for JD degrees and 13 candidates for joint JD-MBA degrees from the School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management. (Northwestern is the only law school that offers a three-year JD-MBA in one of the largest and best integrated law and business programs in the country.) There also are 66 candidates for LLM degrees; 22 candidates for the LLM degree and certificate in business administration from Kellogg; and 23 candidates for LLM degrees in taxation.

Twenty-five students also graduated in March from the inaugural class of the Executive LLM Program in Seoul, Korea. Finally, two students will be the first candidates for the joint master of science in journalism and master of studies in law degrees from the School of Law and the Medill School of Journalism.