Law School alumni will return to New Haven to attend the school's annual Alumni Weekend, being held Friday-Sunday, Oct. 16-18. The theme of this year's gathering is "Law and Business in the 21st Century."
While all Law School alumni are invited every year to attend Alumni Weekend events, this year's gathering features special programs for members of the Law School classes of 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1993.
The Right Honourable Sir Leon Brittan, Q.C., vice president of The Commission of the European Communities and a former Henry Fellow of the University, will present the keynote address at a reception and dinner for alumni to be held on Friday night in University Commons.
Every year, one of the highlights of the Alumni Weekend is the presentation of the Award of Merit, which is given by the Law School Association, the school's alumni organization, to an esteemed fellow graduate. This year's award will be presented to U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin '64 LL.B. on Saturday at a luncheon for alumni in University Commons.
As the 70th secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Rubin heads the federal department responsible for managing federal finances; collecting taxes and paying all bills of the United States; supervising banks and thrift institutions; advising on domestic and international economic, trade and tax policy; and enforcing federal finance and tax laws, among other duties. Before he was named Treasury Secretary in 1995, Rubin served for two years as assistant to the president for economic policy; in that post, he directed the activities of the National Economic Council. Prior to joining the Clinton administration, Rubin served for 26 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City. Before that, he was an attorney for the New York City firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.
President William J. Clinton '73 J.D., who is expected to visit the Law School on Saturday as part of his class' 25th reunion, will present the Award of Merit to Rubin. Clinton received the award five years ago at his 20th Law School reunion.
Events open to the public
While most of the Alumni Weekend events are open only to alumni, two of this year's activities are open to the public free of charge on a space-available basis. They are:
* A lecture on "Globalization and the Rule of Law" at 4 p.m. on Friday in Rm. 127 of the Sterling Law Building, 127 Wall St. The featured speaker will be Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Harvard Institute for International Development and the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade at Harvard University. Described as "probably the most important economist in the world" by The New York Times Magazine, Rubin has served as an economic adviser to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa, and has been a consultant to such global organizations as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, among others.
* A panel discussion on "Law and Business in the Global Economy" at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium. The panelists will include Jeffrey E. Garten, dean of the School of Management; Paul Gewirtz '70 J.D., the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law; Benjamin W. Heineman Jr. '71 J.D., senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of the General Electric Company; Janet Langford Kelly '83 J.D., senior vice president, secretary and general counsel of the Sara Lee Corporation; and Eugene A. Ludwig '73 J.D., vice chair of Bankers Trust Corporation. The panel discussion will be moderated by Harold Hongju Koh, the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law.