Dr. Michael Lamb ’04, a Rhodes College political science alumnus and 2004 Rhodes Scholar, will deliver the college’s annual Constitution Day lecture on Monday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. in Blount Auditorium of Buckman Hall. The title of the talk is “Character and the Constitution: What the Founders Can Teach Us About How to Keep Our Republic.” Lamb’s talk will be preceded by a reception in Buckman Lobby at 4:15 p.m.
The purpose of Rhodes’ annual Constitution Day is to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 and to reflect on the role and function of the government and Americans’ liberties and obligations as citizens.
Lamb holds multiple roles at Wake Forest University, including serving as the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, senior executive director of the Program for Leadership and Character, and associate professor of interdisciplinary humanities. A recipient of teaching awards from Princeton, Oxford, and Wake Forest, his teaching and research focus on leadership, character, and the role of virtues in public life.
He is the author of A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought and co-editor of The Arts of Leading: Perspectives from the Humanities and the Liberal Arts; Cultivating Virtue in the University; and Everyday Ethics: Moral Theology and the Practices of Ordinary Life. He is currently leading major grants to develop leaders of character at Wake Forest and beyond through the Educating Character Initiative, which is supporting a broader community of colleges and universities – including Rhodes – focused on educating character.
While an undergraduate, Lamb was president of both the Honor Council and the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. In addition, he was a regular volunteer at Rhodes’ soup kitchen, tutored elementary school children, worked at a nonprofit legal center, and constructed houses and playgrounds in Mexico. During Lamb’s senior year at Rhodes, he was selected for the highly coveted Rhodes Scholarship (England), one of the most competitive scholarships in the world, enabling outstanding young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford.
At graduation, Lamb received the college’s two highest student honors, the Phi Beta Kappa Prize and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, which recognizes service to others. Lamb went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University.
This Rhodes event is free and open to the public, but attendees must pre-register using this link.