The Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics honors Wayne L. Morse, Oregon's longtime U.S. Senator and dean of the UO School of Law, known as "the Tiger of the Senate." Occupants of the Wayne Morse Chair exemplify the characteristics of Wayne Morse: integrity, independence, and respect for the rule of law and civil liberties.
Following the death of Senator Morse in 1974, a memorial fund was created to establish the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics at the University of Oregon. U.S. Representative Charles Porter, a longtime friend of Morse, spearheaded fundraising along with UO staff. The U.S. Congress also contributed $190,849 under a challenge grant operated from the Department of Education. In 1980, Willard Wirtz, U.S. Secretary of Labor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, served as the first Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics.
Occupants of the Wayne Morse Chair have included prominent public intellectuals, activists, scholars, policymakers, and writers. During their residencies at the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, they have delivered major public addresses, taught classes, and engaged in wide-ranging conversations with audiences in the university, the local community, and the state.
Wayne Morse Chairs
2021-23 Making Work Work
Chairs: Juliet Schor and Sarita Gupta
2019-21 Science, Policy, and The Public
Chairs: Lucy Jones and Françoise Baylis
2017-19 Borders, Migration, and Belonging
Chairs: José Antonio Vargas and Mae Ngai
2015–17 The Future of Public Education
Chairs: Gary Orfield and Amy Stuart Wells
2013–15 Media And Democracy
Chairs: Terry Fisher and Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
2011-13 Capitalism & The Common Good
Chairs: Robert Kuttner and Senator Russ Feingold
2009–11 Climate Ethics & Climate Equity
Chairs: Dale Jamieson, Maxine Burkett, and Vandana Shiva
2007–09 Democracy and Citizenship in the 21st Century
Chairs: Arturo Escobar and Mark Graber
2005–07 Indigenous Peoples: National Policy & International Human Rights
Chairs: Wilma Mankiller and Richard West
2003–05 The Changing Geopolitical Order
Chairs: Neil Smith and Hilary Charlesworth
2001–03 Race, Class, and the Criminal Justice System
Chairs: Charles Ogletree and Robert Mosteller
2000–01 Labor and the Global Economy
Chairs: Dana Frank and William Gould
1999–2000 The Rich, the Poor, and American Politics
Chair: Frances Fox Piven
Richard Delgado (1998)
Abner Mikva (1997)
Barbara Ehrenreich (1997)
Primitivo Rodriguez (1996)
William Pfaff (1995)
John E. Echohawk (1994)
Robert A. Katzmann (1993)
Douglas A. Fraser (1992)
Ray Marshall (1992)
Hans A. Linde (1991)
George McGovern (1990)
Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. (1989)
Charles L. Black, Jr. (1987)
Fred W. Friendly (1985)
Shirley M. Hufstedler (1984)
Anthony Lewis (1983)
Philip M. Klutznick (1981)
Willard Wirtz (1980)