History Matters: Bancroft Prize-winning Mary Sarah Bilder was among 23 Distinguished Lecturers selected in 2021 by the Organization of American Historians to serve an extendable three-year term. The Founders Professor of Law joined a roster of nearly 600 prominent scholars who speak to audiences across the country on all aspects of US history. In December, she was also a featured panelist in the US National Archives discussion “Anti-Federalists and the Bill of Rights.”
At Long Last: In the 1970s, Zygmunt Plater fought to save a tiny fish from extinction as lead counsel in litigation against the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Tellico Dam. The case led to a crucial US Supreme Court decision in 1978 that fortified the Endangered Species Act by protecting imperiled plants and animals “whatever the cost.” Forty-three years later, in August 2021, there was another victory for Plater, author of The Snail Darter and the Dam, when the US Fish and Wildlife Service removed the now-thriving creature from the endangered list.
Newcomer: Vik Kanwar, a well-traveled scholar, professor, and program administrator who has worked at major universities and agencies around the globe, joined BC Law last semester as Director of Graduate and Global Programs.
Our Brain Trust: R. Michael Cassidy was appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to a four-year term on the Board of Bar Overseers. Daniel Lyons testified before Congress on holding Big Tech accountable. For the third time, Ray Madoff, philanthropy expert, was named to the NonProfit Times 2021 Power & Influence Top 50, and she and John Arnold were named Philanthropy Critics of the Year by Inside Philanthropy. Jeff Cohen spoke to Reuters, the New York Times, and CBS News about the Ghislaine Maxwell, Elizabeth Holmes, and Varsity Blues admissions trials. The Worcester Telegram cited Mark Brodin’s findings that civil service exams hurt hiring and advancement of qualified minority candidates and couldn’t predict success in public safety positions, particularly for supervisors.
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