Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Event Date

4-26-2012

Description

On April 26-27, 2012, Colorado Law honored David H. Getches with a symposium to celebrate his life and legacy of trailblazing scholarship. “A Life of Contributions for All Time” featured a keynote address by Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson entitled, “Hero for the People, Hero for the Land and Water: Reflections on the Enduring Contributions of David Getches.” Top scholars in the fields of natural resources, water, and American Indian law reflected on Dean Getches’ contributions and their own insights into these fields, including Professor John Leshy, John Echohawk, Professor Carole Goldberg, Professor Joe Sax, Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Justice Greg Hobbs, Professor William Rogers, and others.

During the symposium, Colorado Law's Wise Law Library unveiled the David H. Getches Collection, a digital archive of his scholarship, academic speeches, congressional testimony, and litigation.

The symposium reflected the broad range of David’s interests and impact. For example, Professor Armando Guevara-Gil of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú spoke of the geographic reach of David’s work, including his volunteer trip to South America to meet with Peru’s dictatorial President Alberto Fujimori in a successful effort to convince him not to sign a bill that would have resulted in the dispossession of the water rights of indigenous peoples. Former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth spoke of many challenges facing our country and concluded that David’s “life’s work demonstrated that the law, the legislature, and the courts can be made to work for the disadvantaged, the disenfranchised, and the environment.”

The proceedings of the symposium will be published in the University of Colorado Law Review (Volume 84; Issue One (2013)).

Moderator

Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, Karin Sheldon, Mark Squillace, Jeanne Whiteing

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