Installation of Professor Russell Powell
Installation of Professor Russell Powell as the Father John Topel Endowed Scholar in Catholic Social Thought and Justice
Event time
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 | 4:30-7:00 p.m.
Event location
- Distinguished Lecture: Room 110 (4:30‐5:30 p.m.)
- Reception: Second Floor Gallery (5:30-7:00 p.m.)
About Professor Russell Powell
Russell Powell is a Professor of Law at Seattle University. He previously taught at the University of Jordan, Santa Clara University and Loyola University Chicago. His main area of research is comparative religious jurisprudence (with particular interests in Catholic social thought and Islamic legal theory), and his scholarship has explored almsgiving, forgiveness, divorce, theories of justice, and business ethics. His most recent book considers the implications of his empirical research in Turkey, exploring perceptions of secularism and Islamic legal tradition. Major new projects have focused on recent 1st Amendment Religion Clause jurisprudence and comparative Islamic constitutionalism. He has served as the Chair of both the American Association of Law Schools Section on Islamic Law and the Islamic Law Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. He also served as the Chair of the Conference on Catholic Legal Thought. Dr. Powell was a corporate associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati after serving as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department. Before entering academia, he trained for the Catholic priesthood as a Jesuit scholastic for six years. Dr. Powell has graduate degrees in philosophy/theology, Near Eastern studies, and law. He reads and speaks a number of languages including Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, and Farsi.