The Coxford Lecture
Adrienne Davis of Washington University in St. Louis
The Coxford Lecture brings outstanding scholars and jurists to Western Law and the wider community through an annual public lecture on the theme of the rule of law. This prestigious lecture series addresses pressing public law issues in an effort to promote and advance the rule of law. In pursuit of this aim, the Coxford Lecture series has hosted an impressive line-up of preeminent thinkers, including John Borrows (University of Toronto), Aileen Kavanagh (Trinity College Dublin), Justice Rosalie Abella (Supreme Court of Canada), Emily Bazelon (Yale Law School, New York Times Magazine), Debra Satz (Stanford), Paul Horowitz (University of Alabama), Adrienne Davis (Washington University in St. Louis), John Finnis (Oxford), Timothy Endicott (Oxford), Justice Ian Binnie (Supreme Court of Canada), Jeffrey Goldsworthy (Monash University), Jeremy Waldron (NYU/Oxford), and Larry Alexander (San Diego School of Law School). These distinguished speakers have addressed significant matters of public interest, such as judicial virtues in constitutional interpretation, reparations for the wrongs associated with slavery, the pathologies of privatizing public goods, and Canada’s path to an entrenched Charter of Rights.
In 2018/19, the Coxford Lecture series celebrated a decade of notable contributions to public law discourse. To mark this special anniversary, Western Law welcomed the Right Honourable David Johnston, the 28th Governor General of Canada and Dean of Western Law from 1974 to 1979, to deliver the tenth Coxford Lecture.
The Coxford Lectures are published in the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence.
Links to and further details about past lectures are available through the following links:
- Jonn Borrows - 2024
- Aileen Kavanagh - 2023
- Justice Abella - 2022
- Emily Bazelon - 2019
- David Johnston - 2018/19
- Debra Satz - 2017
- Paul Horwitz - 2016
- Adrienne Davis - 2015
- John Finnis - 2014
- Timothy Endicott - 2013
- Ian Binnie - 2011
- Jeffrey Goldsworthy - 2010
- Jeremy Waldron - 2009
- Larry Alexander - 2008
The Coxford Lecture is funded by Western Law alumnus Stephen R. Coxford, LL.B. ‘77. Mr. Coxford, President of Toronto-based investment company Gresham & St. Andrew Inc., has had a long career in private practice, in business and as an investor. He is also a graduate of the University of Toronto and completed a graduate law degree at the University of Cambridge. Mr. Coxford served on the University’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2013, the last two years as Chair. In October 2015, Mr. Coxford received Western’s Ivan Rand Alumni Award in recognition of his significant contributions to both the Faculty of Law and the alumni community.
The Coxford Lecture series is currently co-directed by Professors Andrew Botterell and Wade Wright.
