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September
19, 2002
Experts
Honor Life of Raoul Berger
CHICAGO
--- Distinguished scholars and jurists will gather at Northwestern
University School of Law for a symposium to honor the life and work
of the late Raoul Berger, who was one of the nation’s leading
authorities and most prolific commentators on the U.S. Constitution
and legal history.
The
symposium honoring Berger, a 1935 graduate of the law school who
passed away on Sept. 23, 2000, at age 99, is open to the public.
It will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, at the law school, 357
E. Chicago Ave.
The
symposium will feature speeches by Judge Danny J. Boggs of the 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Judge Edith H. Jones of the 5th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals; Gary L. McDowell, director of the Institute
of United States Studies at the University of London; and Edwin
Meese III, the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow of Public Policy
at The Heritage Foundation.
"Raoul
Berger was one of the most loyal and fervent supporters of the rule
of law in general and Northwestern’s law school in particular,"
said Stephen B. Presser, who also will deliver a speech at the symposium.
Presser, the Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History at Northwestern,
knew Berger well.
Berger
was the author of more than 100 articles and seven books. Among
his most recent works are "Federalism: The Founder’s Design"
(1987) and "The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights"
(1989).
Born
in Russian Ukraine in 1901, Berger moved to the United States as
a child and subsequently attended the Institute of Musical Art in
New York. After leading a distinguished career as a young concert
violinist for a number of years, Berger decided to pursue a different
career path.
At
the age of 35, he graduated from Northwestern University School
of Law and first practiced law in Chicago. He worked for the Securities
and Exchange Commission and as special assistant to the U.S. attorney
general and general counsel to the alien property custodian during
World War II. Berger began teaching law at the University of California
at Berkeley in 1962 and was the Charles Warren Senior Fellow in
American Legal History at Harvard University from 1971 to 1976.
His
fond memories of Northwestern inspired Berger to establish the Raoul
Berger Chair in Legal History, the Raoul Berger Fellowship in Legal
History and the Raoul Berger Prizes Fund.
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