Sherman J. Bellwood Memorial Lecture

The Sherman J. Bellwood Lecture Series brings influential local, regional and national leaders to University of Idaho and the state, creating a unique opportunity for students and community members to engage in meaningful dialogue. Each lecture invites participants to explore, question and debate important topics related to the justice system alongside some of the country’s most respected voices in law and public service.

Past speakers have included notable guests such as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, journalist David Halberstam, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and legal scholar Anita Hill.

2024 Bellwood Lecture

Watch University of Idaho’s College of Law Oct. 24, 2024 Sherman J. Bellwood Memorial Lecture featuring Judge Sara Hill.

About Sherman J. Bellwood  

Sherman J. Bellwood, an Idaho native, graduated from University of Idaho with honors in 1939 and earned his Doctor 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 the Idaho delegate to the American Bar Association for a number of years.

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 the land from the United States that now serves as the home of the Idaho Youth Ranch.

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 University of Idaho.