News
Thornburgh Family Lecture in Disability Law and Policy, February 15, 2007
Doctor Ruth Colker, Professor of Constitutional Law at Ohio State University, will speak at the third Thornburgh Family Disability Lecture. The lecture will be held at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law at 1PM and is free and open to the public.
Thornburgh Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Thornburgh received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Lawyer magazine in October, 2006. The award recognizes lawyers who "have made important contributions to public life while building outstanding private or public-interest practices...exemplars who have breathed life into the legal profession's abstract values of client service and public service."
Thornburgh Receives Award at Honors Convocation
At the University of Pittsburgh’s Honors Convocation on February 24, 2006, Dick Thornburgh was named a 2006 Distinguished Alumni Fellow, an award that recognizes outstanding professional achievement and service to the community on the part of Pitt alumni. On this same occasion, Thornburgh delivered the Convocation Address in which he spoke to students of the things celebrated that day: “Personal excellence in everything we do; unwavering service to the community; and, above all, a lifelong commitment to the highest standards of integrity.”
Dick Thornburgh appointment to FBI Board
Dick Thornburgh has accepted the invitation of FBI Director, Robert S. Mueller, to serve on the FBI’s Science and Technology Advisory Board, effective October 2005. The Advisory Board was authorized by Congress in February 2003 with a charge to independently advise the Director of the FBI on matters “relating to science, technology, research, engineering, information management, and other matters of special interest to the FBI.” As Director Mueller recently has stated “Beyond science and technology issues, the Board will focus on overall management and transformation efforts – always on the strategic level and to suggest and assess organizational strategies.”
Carnegie Mellon University class comes to Thornburgh Archive
Carnegie Mellon Professor, Jay Aronson, has brought his fall 2005 class of seniors to the University’s Archives Service Center to conduct research in the Papers of Dick Thornburgh. The class is entitled "History and Policy Project Course: Technology and Economic Development in Pittsburgh." The project class is using the Thornburgh archives to document the State of Pennsylvania's response to the economic decline of the late-1970s and 1980s caused by de-industrialization and the demise of Big Steel. They are also examining state-level efforts to revive the economy of the Pittsburgh region through such innovative programs as the Ben Franklin Partnership.
Thornburgh Archive Advisory Committee
The Thornburgh Archive Advisory Committee will meet December 2, 2005. Its goals include “assisting in focusing the attention of students, scholars and the general public on issues relevant to the collection through programs, speakers, fellowships or exhibits designed to stimulate an open exchange of ideas on topics and underlying principles derived from the collection.”
Judith Heumann spoke at Thornburgh Lecture in Disability Law and Policy, February 9, 2006
Lecture title: “Including the Voices of Disabled People in the International Development Agenda.” The lecture will be held in early afternoon at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is free and open to the public and accessible to people with disabilities. It will be followed by a reception.
When Dick and Ginny Thornburgh were presented with the prestigious Henry Betts Award, they generously donated the proceeds to establish the Thornburgh Family Lecture in Disability Law and Policy at the University of Pittsburgh. At the inaugural lecture on October 14, 2004, Peter Blanck of the University of Iowa presented a lecture entitled “Americans with Disabilities and Their Civil Rights.”
The second distinguished lecturer will be Judith E. Heumann, Disability Consultant World Bank. Heumann was appointed as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development in June 2002. She is an internationally recognized expert on disability and diversity issues who has traveled widely among the countries of the world. Heumann leads the Bank's disability work that integrates the needs of people with disabilities in the Bank's discussions with client countries, its country-based analytical work and its support for policies, programs and projects to improve economic and social life around the globe. Heumann, a life-time human rights advocate, has been the recipient of many awards including two honorary doctorates and the first Henry B. Betts Award.
Thornburgh article: “Balancing Civil Liberties and Homeland Security…”
The Albany Law Review, Volume 68, No. 4, 2005, includes an article by Dick Thornburgh entitled: “Balancing Civil Liberties and Homeland Security: Does the USA PATRIOT Act Avoid Justice Robert H. Jackson’s ‘Suicide Pact?’”.
Dissertation research in the Thornburgh Collection
Dr. Brian Kent Jensen, Carnegie Mellon University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, used documentation from the Thornburgh collection regarding the topic “home rule.” Thornburgh’s commitment to home rule began in the 1960s when he was active in the Pittsburgh community and subsequently served as a delegate to Pennsylvania’s Constitutional Convention, 1967-68, during which home rule was debated and passed. Dissertation title: “Masters of Their Own Destiny: Allegheny County Government Reform Efforts, 1929-1998.” Dissertation date: 2004.
