Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, ’67, to Speak to NLDS Students
Alan Page, B.A. ’67, former justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Fighting Irish All-American and Pro Football Hall of Fame member, will speak to Notre Dame Law Students at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, in the McCartan Courtroom. Page was the first African-American to hold a major state office in Minnesota and focused on examining racial bias in the Minnesota justice system. He will be visiting as the Judge James J. Clynes, Jr. Visiting Chair and will also be presented with the Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award during the Monogram Club’s 100th Anniversary Celebration.
“I am delighted that Justice Page has agreed to speak to NDLS students,” said Dean Nell Jessup Newton. “On the playing field and in the courtroom he has always exemplified the highest professional and personal standards.”
Page, a native of Canton, Ohio, earned consensus All-America honors as a defensive lineman and helped Notre Dame to the national championship during his senior campaign in 1966. He enjoyed a 15-year career in the NFL, which included four Super Bowl appearances with the Minnesota Vikings, nine Pro Bowl selections and the 1971 NFL MVP award. He is enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Page graduated from Notre Dame in 1967 with a degree in political science and he earned his law degree in 1978 from the University of Minnesota Law School while still playing professionally. Page retired from the NFL following the 1981 season and continued practicing law before joining the staff of the Minnesota attorney general.
In 1988, Page and his wife Diane founded the Page Education Foundation, which assists students of color in their pursuit of post-secondary education. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $13 million in grants to more than 6,000 individuals.
Page was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992 and was re-elected to that position three times before retiring in 2015.
The Judge James J. Clynes Jr. Visiting Chair in the Ethics of Litigation within the Judicial Process is named after Notre Dame alumnus Judge James J. Clynes, Jr., ’45. The visiting chair may be held by members of the judiciary at the trial and appellate levels, distinguished law professors, and prominent members of the bar to teach or conduct public lectures relative to the ethics of litigation or judicial decision-making.