Elizabeth D. Rockwell Distinguished Lecture on Ethics and Leadership
A lecture recording will be available for viewing on the Hobby School website after the event for a limited time.
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Believing: The First Step to Change
Professor, legal scholar and author Anita Hill will deliver the 2023 Elizabeth D. Rockwell Distinguished Lecture on Ethics and Leadership for the Hobby School of Public Affairs on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Rockwell Pavilion at MD Anderson Library. Hill testified against then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in 1991 with allegations of workplace sexual harassment, making history by bringing a conversation usually handled behind closed doors into the public consciousness.
The annual lecture will explore Hill’s intrepid testimony, challenging one of the country’s oldest and strongest institutions, its aftermath and the continued fight for racial and gender equality 30 years later with the #MeToo movement. As a leading voice on these issues, Hill, now a professor of social policy, law, and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis University, will also discuss gender-based violence as a cultural and structural problem.
Joining the waitlist does not guarantee that you can attend the event. Those who join the waitlist will be contacted if a ticket becomes available. They will also receive a post-event email with a link to the recording.About the Speaker
Anita Hill, Brandeis University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Anita Hill is a professor of social policy, law, and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis University, where she teaches courses on gender, race, social policy and legal history.
The youngest of 13 children from a farm in rural Oklahoma, Hill received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1980 and began her career in private practice in Washington, D.C. Before becoming a law professor, she worked at the U. S. Education Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1989, Hill became the first African American to be tenured at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she taught contracts and commercial law. As counsel to Cohen Milstein, Hill advises on class action workplace discrimination cases.
Hill's latest book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence, won the 2022 ABA Silver Gavel Award for Books. Her previous book is Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home.
Hill's commentary has appeared on national television programs and been published in TIME, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Boston Globe and Ms. Magazine. She has received numerous honorary degrees and civic awards. She has chaired the Human Rights Law Committee of the International Bar Association. In addition, Hill is on the Board of Governors of the Tufts Medical Center and the Board of Directors of the National Women's Law Center and the Boston Area Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
About the Lecture Series
The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Lecture on Ethics and Leadership at the University of Houston was established in 2004. Elizabeth D. Rockwell believed the university should host important discussions about leadership and ethics for students and the university community. The lecture, held annually, brings nationally prominent speakers to campus to discuss important issues of ethics and leadership.