College of Law

Fall 2016 Stranahan Lecture to feature Professor John Finnis on September 20

Finnis July 27, 2016

 John M. Finnis, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford, and Biolchini Family  Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame, will deliver this fall’s Stranahan  Lecture entitled, “A Conversation with   Professor John Finnis.”  The conversation will  take place on Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at The University of Toledo College of  Law’s McQuade Auditorium at 12 noon.

 “John Finnis is the greatest living natural law theorist in the world.  He is widely  considered the person most responsible for reviving interest in natural law with his  path-breaking book, Natural Law and Natural Rights (1980),” said Lee J. Strang, the  John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values at ToledoLaw. 

During the conversation with Professor Finnis, he will explain natural law and some of its important implications.  This conversation format will encourage audience members to ask questions of and engage with Professor Finnis.  “Finnis’ lecture is sure to spark thought and conversation on this important topic,” said Professor Strang.    

Professor Finnis is a prolific scholar.  He has authored and edited numerous books and written dozens of articles and essays.  Recently, Professor Finnis was honored when Oxford University Press published his collected works in a five-volume series.  Professor Finnis’ publications have focused on law, legal theory, moral and political philosophy, theology, and late Elizabethan-era history.

Professor Finnis earned his LL.B. from Adelaide University in Australia and doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Until 2010, Finnis held positions of lecturer, reader, and a chaired professor in law at Oxford.  He has also held positions at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Malawi in Africa, and at Boston College of Law. He is admitted to the English Bar, Gray’s Inn.

The free, public lecture is a part of the Stranahan National Issues Forum and is sponsored by the College of Law and its chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. Food and drink will be provided.

Last Updated: 6/27/22