Bellwood Lectures
John G. Roberts, Jr.
Chief Justice of the United States
4:00pm Student Union Ballroom
March 13, 2009
John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 27, 1955. He married Jane Sullivan in 1996 and they have two children—Josephine and John. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1976 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1979.
He served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979-1980, and as a law clerk for then-Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 Term. He served as a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1981-1982, as Associate Counsel to President Reagan from 1982-1986, and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General from 1989-1993.
From 1986-1989 and 1993-2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He served as a Judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2003-2005. Nominated as Chief Justice of the United States by President George W. Bush, he assumed that office on September 29, 2005.
About the Sherman J. Bellwood Lectures
The Sherman J. Bellwood Lectures bring prominent and highly regarded local, regional and national leaders to the state of Idaho and the University of Idaho campus. Students have the opportunity to discuss, examine and debate a wide-range of subjects related to the justice system.
Throughout his distinguished career, Judge Sherman J. Bellwood was committed to the legal profession and to legal education. In one of his last and most generous contributions to legal education, Judge Bellwood endowed the Sherman J. Bellwood Lectures at the College of Law. According to the terms of his will, Judge Bellwood's purpose in establishing this endowment was "to enable the College of Law to invite and present persons learned in the law to lecture on legal subjects from time to time." This endowment is the largest endowed lectureship at the University of Idaho.
About Sherman J. Bellwood
Sherman J. Bellwood, an Idaho native, graduated from the University of Idaho with honors in 1939 and earned the doctorate of Law degree from the University of Michigan in 1941. After serving five years in the Army Coast Artillery Corps, he returned to Idaho to begin his legal career. For fifteen years Sherman Bellwood engaged in the general practice of law. He also served as President of the Idaho State Bar and was for a number of years the Idaho delegate to the American Bar Association.
In the early 1960s, Bellwood was elected to serve as an Idaho District Court Judge, where he presided until his retirement in 1981. Active in community and civic projects, Judge Bellwood was instrumental in obtaining from the United States the land which today is the home of the Idaho Youth Ranch.