Center Welcomes Gayla Sorenson and Donlu Thayer
The Center is grateful for its association with Gayla Sorenson and Donlu Thayer, who have accepted roles as volunteer Senior Fellows. Gayla will be extensively involved in the design and recruitment of a volunteer network to identify and address freedom of religion issues on a country-by-country basis, with particular emphasis on a new Center project involving constitutional issues in Nepal. Donlu will assume several editorial tasks, including assisting with content management of the ICLRS websites, generating the Center’s newsletters, and undertaking projects concerning the European Court of Human Rights. Gayla and Donlu…
Rainer O. Bless, Visiting Fellow
Beginning mid-April 2009, the Center has enjoyed the contributions of Visiting Fellow Rainer O. Bless from Grainau, Germany. Rainer studied at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he specialized in public international law and law of the European Union. After his graduation, he had several assignments focusing on the legal aspects of German law enforcement and international security. He worked for several months as an assistant lawyer at the District Attorney’s Office in a Special Prosecution Unit and the East Hesse Police Department’s Legal and Internal Affairs Division in Fulda, Germany. In Summer 2008, he was assigned to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Office of the Secretary General, Executive Management Section and Legal Services Section at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna…
Gary Doxey Returns to the Center
The Center is pleased once again to enjoy the association of former Managing Director Gary B. Doxey, recently released as President of the Mexico City South Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Professor Doxey will be be affiliated with both the Law School and the Department of History at Brigham Young University and will assume a role with the Center as an Associate Director and Regional Advisor for Latin America. Before coming to work at the Center, Professor Doxey served under Governor Olene S. Walker of Utah as chief of staff, head of the cabinet, and chief operating officer of the executive branch. Prior to that, he served six years as general counsel to Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt. Professor Doxey has spent much of his career in…
Elizabeth Clark Joins Slovakian Academic Board
Professor Elizabeth Clark, Associate Director of ICLRS, has agreed to join the Academic Board of the Institute for State-Church Relations in Bratislava, Slovakia. The Institute functions primarily as a think-tank, studying both new religious movements and proposals that could affect church-state relations for the government of Slovakia. The Institute also contributes to the scholarly work in this field. To see the Institute’s English-language website, click here. Upon being invited to join the Academic Board, Professor Clark declared “It’s a privilege to be associated with [the Academic Board] and an honor to be invited to serve.” Professor Sewell has contributed to several…
W. Cole Durham Receives International First Freedom Award
W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of ICLRS and Susa Young Gates Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, traveled to Virginia on January 15, 2009, to accept the prestigious International First Freedom Award. Each year, the Richmond-based First Freedom Center selects one recipient for each of three awards: the International First Freedom Award, the National First Freedom Award, and the Virginia First Freedom Award. These awards are intended to recognize the recipients’ work in advancing the freedom of conscience and belief, and basic human rights for people from all faiths, cultures, and traditions. Former recipients of the First Freedom awards include then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine…
New Chair for the Center’s Development Committee Announced
Professor Scott W. Cameron, Associate Dean of External Relations, J. Reuben Clark Law School, was named chairman of the Center’s Development Committee on July 8, 2008, succeeding Center Managing Director Professor Robert T. Smith, Twho has served as chair of the Development Committee since its organization in 2006 as a successor to the cornerstone campaign that successfully raised funds for the Center’s endowment. The Committee’s members include Dean James R. Rasband, Professor Cole W. Durham, Jr., and some members of the international advisory council, including William F. Atkin, Wilford Andersen, Doug Bush, David Christensen, Mark Cressler, Ralph W. Hardy, Jr., Duane Madsen, Todd Nelson, James E. Pollock, Kelly Reeves, Bryce Wade, and Deborah Wright. Dean Cameron has served as a member…