EUGENE–Barbara Allen Babcock, the first woman appointed to the Stanford Law School faculty and co-author of the definitive text on sex discrimination law, will deliver a free public lecture on April 10 while serving as the Oregon Humanities Center’s 2000 Colin Ruagh Thomas O’Fallon Memorial Lecturer in Law and American Culture at the University of Oregon.

Babcock, the Judge John Crown Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, will discuss "Inventing the Public Defender" at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 10, in Room 175 of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. A light reception will follow her lecture.

A Stanford law professor since 1972, Babcock specializes in the areas of women’s legal history, sex discrimination law, and the criminal and civil justice system. She was one of the co-founders of a women’s rights law firm called Equal Rights Advocates.

Before joining the Stanford faculty, Babcock was a well-known jury lawyer. She founded the Public Defender Service in the District of Columbia. Currently, she is writing a biography of Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first woman lawyer on the Pacific coast who conceived the idea of a public defender.

The O’Fallon Lecture alternates each year between the topics of law and art in American culture. It was established by a generous gift from Henry and Betsy Mayer in memory of their nephew, son of UO law professor James O’Fallon and his wife, artist Ellen Thomas.

Past O’Fallon Lecturers have included Ronald Dworkin (1988), James Dennis (1989), Milner S. Ball (1990), James F. O’Gorman (1991), Thomas C. Grey (1992), Arthur C. Danto (1993), Margaret Jane Radin (1994), Suzi Gablik (1995), Martha Minow (1996), Betty LaDuke (1997), Martha Nussbaum (1998) and James Lavadour (1999).

For information or for disability accommodations, browse http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~humanctr or call the Oregon Humanities Center, (541) 346-3934.

—30—

#P-2169/A&E