15th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture

The 15th Annual Rennard Strickland Lecture takes place on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 6:00 pm. This virtual event is free and open to the public. The lecture features Dean Emeritus and Professor, Stacy Leeds, from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Leeds is the first Native American female dean and a prominent Indian law trailblazer. She is an experienced leader in law, higher education, governance, economic development, and conflict resolution.

This lecture is held in Dean Rennard Strickland’s honor in the fall, and this year is particularly important due to his passing this past January. Rennard Strickland served as dean at the University of Oregon School of Law from 1997 to 2002 and on the faculty until his retirement in 2006. He was Osage, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and widely regarded as a national leader in Indian law and policy. As a scholar and author in the field, he published more than 47 books and 208 essays, articles, and book chapters. He served as Editor in Chief of the 1982 revision of Cohen’s Handbook on Federal Indian Law and was a member of the editorial board in the 2005 revision.

Oregon Law established the Rennard Strickland Lecture Series in 2006 to honor the legacy of Dean Rennard Strickland and to build on his contributions to the field of Indian law and to the Environmental and Natural Resources and Indian law programs at our law school. This lecture series was created by the Native Environmental Sovereignty Project, a project of the law school’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, to examine native leadership in the 21st century.

Past lecturers have included:

Professor Mary Wood, University of Oregon School of Law

Professor William Rodgers, University of Washington School of Law

Professor Rebecca Tsosie, University of Arizona Law

Former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, Department of the Interior

Former Solicitor Hillary Tompkins, Department of the Interior

Former Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs Patrice Kunesh, Department of the Interior

Professor Robert Anderson, University of Washington School of Law (now serving as Principal Deputy Solicitor, Department of the Interior)

Former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, Department of the Interior

Professor Robert Williams, University of Arizona Law School

Professor Carole Goldberg, University of California Los Angeles Law School

Dean James Anaya, University of Colorado School of Law

Professor Gerald Torres, Yale Law School

Mary Kathryn Nagle, Pipestem Law

President Fawn Sharp, Quinault Tribe and President of the National Congress of American Indians

The Rennard Strickland Lecture is a signature event at Oregon Law, examining native leadership and vision for environmental stewardship in the 21st century. The lecture serves a role in educating tribal leaders and members throughout the country, as well as federal and state government officials and members of the public.