The Rockefeller Center remembers Judge Laurence Silberman '57

Judge Laurence Silberman '57 passed away this past Sunday. The Rockefeller Center was honored to have him speak for this year's Constitution Day. Judge Silberman gave a talk entitled "Free Political Speech Under Threat: Eisenhower Would Be Ashamed." You can watch a recording of the lecture here.

Judge Laurence Silberman '57 was appointed United States Circuit Judge in October 1985 and took senior status on November 1, 2000. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19, 2008. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1957 and Harvard Law School in 1961. He served in the Army from 1957-1958. He has been a partner in law firms in Honolulu and Washington, D.C., as well as a banker in San Francisco. He served in government as an attorney in the National Labor Relations Board's appellate section, Solicitor of the Department of Labor from 1969 to 1970, Undersecretary of Labor from 1970 to 1973, Deputy Attorney General of the United States from 1974 to 1975, and Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1975 to 1977. From 1981 to 1985, he served as a member of the General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament and the Department of Defense Policy Board. He was appointed by the Chief Justice to a term (1996 to 2003) as a member of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's Review Panel. He took a leave of absence from the bench to serve as Co-Chairman (2004 to 2005) of the President's Intelligence Commission. He was an Adjunct Professor of Administrative Law at Georgetown University Law Center from 1987 to 1994 and in 1997 and 1999, at NYU from 1995 to 1996, and at Harvard in 1998. From 2003 to 2019 he taught at Georgetown University Law Center as a Distinguished Visitor from the Judiciary and was awarded the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award for the 2002–2003 academic year.

The Silberman family is a three-generation Dartmouth family. His son Robert Silberman is class of 1980. His daughter Kate Fischer is class of 1981. His daughter-in-law Christina Jones-Silberman is class of 1981. And four of his grandchildren are Dartmouth alumni:  Katie Silberman is class of 2009, Christopher Silberman is class of 2011, Hank Balaban is class of 2016, and Joey Balaban is class of 2019.

Read more about Judge Silberman at the Wall Street Journal and National Review.