Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr., to deliver Newhouse III dedication keynote next fall

Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr., to deliver Newhouse III dedication keynote next fallNovember 03, 2006Kevin C. Quinnkcquinn@syr.edu

Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr., will deliver the keynote address at the dedication ceremony of Syracuse University’s Newhouse III building next fall. He will speak on the First Amendment. Newhouse III is a 74,000-square-foot addition to the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, which includes Newhouse I and II. The dedication ceremony will take place on Sept. 19, 2007.

As a signature design element and focal point of the new addition, the First Amendment will be etched on the outside of Newhouse III, wrapping around the base of the building. The First Amendment is also the theme that dictated the school’s choice of keynote speaker and topics for the dedication ceremony.

“As many are aware, Newhouse III will have the words of the First Amendment etched in glass at the base of the building. In addition, the academic theme for all of SU this coming academic year is justice,” says Newhouse Dean David Rubin. “In light of this, we cannot imagine a speaker better positioned to dedicate this building and remind us of the importance of free speech and press to American democracy.”

“We’re honored that Chief Justice Roberts will join us for this momentous occasion, as we open the doors of this great new facility, which will produce the next generation of our nation’s communications professionals and leaders,” says SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “Chief Justice Roberts’s participation in the dedication of Newhouse III is perfectly fitting, given the clear intersection between communications and law, as exemplified by the distinctive placement of the First Amendment on the outside of our new building.”

President George W. Bush nominated Roberts to the nation’s top judicial post. He took his seat in September 2005. Roberts was born in Buffalo, N.Y. He is married to Jane Marie Sullivan and has two children, Josephine and John. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1976 and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Roberts served as law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979-80 and as law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1980-81. He was Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General from 1981-82; Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan in the White House Counsel’s Office from 1982-86; and Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1989-93. From 1986-89 and 1993-2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003.

Renowned New York City-based architecture firm Polshek Partnership Architects has undertaken the design and construction of Newhouse III. Highlights of the expansion include a 350-seat auditorium, two student lounges, a new media research center, a large student dining facility, an experimental multimedia lab and an interdisciplinary newsroom. The approximate cost of the construction project and renovation to the existing Newhouse I and II buildings is $30 million. Construction is funded in part through a $17.5 million grant from the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, one of the largest private donations in SU’s history. The project is scheduled for completion in August 2007.