Robert P. George

Robert P. George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, which he established in 2000. He is also a frequent Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School and an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and School of Public Policy. His teaching career also includes tenures at institutions such as Oxford University and the American Enterprise Institute.

Born on July 10, 1955, Professor George has held several professional and public service positions. He has served as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a presidential appointee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the President’s Council on Bioethics. He also served as a U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. He was a Judicial Fellow at the United States Supreme Court, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award. In the political domain, he has been influential in conservative Christian circles and endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

Professor George is a recipient of several awards, including the U.S. Presidential Citizens Medal, the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights of the Republic of Poland, the Irving Kristol Award of the American Enterprise Institute, and the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He also received one of Princeton University’s highest honors – the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, along with the Philip Merrill Award of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and the Sidney Hook Award of the National Association of Scholars among others. He holds twenty-two honorary degrees, including a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universitat Abat Oliba CEU University.

Aside from his academic pursuits, Professor George has authored several books, essays, and articles on subjects such as natural law, ethics, constitutional law, and marriage. His contributions to contemporary philosophy have been recognized and well-received. He is a finger-style guitarist and bluegrass banjo player, influenced by the likes of Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, and Bela Fleck. George is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Swarthmore and holds J.D. and M.T.S. degrees from Harvard University and D.Phil., B.C.L., D.C.L., and D.Litt. degrees from Oxford University.