Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and one of the better-known justices of modern times, will give a public talk at the University of Colorado at Boulder on April 17 at 7 p.m. in Macky Auditorium.
O'Connor served on the court from 1981 to 2006 and played a pivotal role as a crucial swing vote during her tenure. In addition to her talk, O'Connor also will receive the CU-Boulder Center of the American West's 2008 Wallace Stegner Award at the talk.
The center, which is sponsoring O'Connor's lecture along with the CU Law School, presents the Stegner Award to Westerners who have demonstrated singular achievement, creativity and dedication in their professional lives. O'Connor is a longtime Westerner and co-author of a memoir, with her brother Alan, of growing up on her family's ranch in Arizona.
Tickets for O'Connor's talk are $10 for the general public and $3 for CU-Boulder students.
"When it comes to intellectual clarity and sound judgment, Justice O'Connor sets the standard for the region and the nation," said history Professor Patty Limerick, faculty director of the Center of the American West. "April 17, 2008, will be one of the center's happiest days, and the inspiration drawn from hearing Justice O'Connor in person will ripple and echo for years in the lives of many students, faculty and local citizens."
Past recipients of the Center of the American West's Wallace Stegner Award have included Ivan Doig, Vine Deloria Jr., David Lavender, N. Scott Momaday and Terry Tempest Williams.
This year's Wallace Stegner Award presentation is made possible by Al and Carol Ann Olson.
The mission of the CU-Boulder Center of the American West is to explore the distinctive character and issues of the region and to help Westerners become well-informed, participating citizens. For more information visit the Web site at or call (303) 492-4879.
Tickets for the O'Connor lecture are available to the public through Tickets West, at all King Soopers outlets, on line at and / and by phone at 1-866-464-2626. Student tickets are available through the UMC Connection in the University Memorial Center.