Nina Totenberg, a longtime legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), will deliver the 36th annual Leopold Lecture at Northwestern University. The event is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, at Cahn Auditorium in Evanston. It is free and open to the public, though reservations are required.
Totenberg is expected to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court, significant legal issues that impact Americans, and current cases before the court. She will be joined in conversation by Laura Beth Nielsen, who serves as Board of Lady Managers of the Columbian Exposition Chair and professor of sociology at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
A veteran journalist with more than four decades covering high-profile judicial matters for NPR, Totenberg’s work has been regularly featured on programs such as “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” and “Weekend Edition.”
She is also known for her book “Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships” (Simon and Schuster, 2022), which chronicles her long friendship with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Totenberg’s accolades include every major broadcasting journalism award. In 1998, she became the first radio journalist to win the National Press Foundation’s “Broadcaster of the Year” award. She was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame by the Museum of Broadcast Communications in 2023.
The Leopold Lecture series brings notable speakers to Northwestern each year. Past guests have included U.S. Senators Russ Feingold and Richard Lugar, presidential nominee George McGovern, and former President of Mexico Vicente Fox. The lectureship was created in 1990 by undergraduate students to honor Richard W. Leopold, a distinguished diplomatic historian and educator who taught at Northwestern for most of his career.
"Generations of undergraduate students, many of whom enjoy successful careers as educators, writers, lawyers and public officials, remember Leopold’s scholarship, teaching and friendship," according to organizers. "The lectureship honors Leopold’s contribution to the University and recognizes his enduring influence on the lives of his students."