Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series

In 2020, the Program on Church, State & Society launched the Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series to honor the late Notre Dame Law Professor Charles E. Rice, as well as Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson and his wife, Mary Rice Hasson. Both Kevin and Mary are graduates of Notre Dame and the Law School. The Rice-Hasson Lecture allows the Program to bring a highly distinguished scholar to campus each year to give a public lecture that will engage the University and Law School communities.

Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series Speakers

Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, was the inaugural speaker for the Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series on November 17, 2021.

John Garvey, president emeritus of Catholic University of America, gave the 2023 Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture on April 14, 2023.

Steven Smith, University of San Diego Law Professor, gave the 2024 Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture on November 18, 2024. He also published a paper on his lecture. Read it here.

Judge William H. Pryor Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit,  gave the 2025 Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture on November 19, 2025.