Academic Freedom &  Free Speech 

BIOGRAPHY

Frederick Lawrence is an accomplished scholar, teacher and attorney, and one of the nation’s leading experts on civil rights, free expression, bias crimes and higher education law. Lawrence has published widely and lectured internationally. He is the author of “Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law” (Harvard University Press 1999), examining bias-motivated violence and how such violence is punished in the United States. He frequently contributes op-eds to various news sources and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News among other networks.

Lawrence has testified before Congress concerning free expression on campus and on federal hate crime legislation, was the keynote speaker at the meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on bias-motivated violence, was a senior research fellow at University College London, and the recipient of a Ford Foundation grant to study bias-motivated violence in the United Kingdom.

Lawrence currently serves as the 10th Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s first and most prestigious honor society, founded in 1776. The Society advocates for the value and benefits of liberal arts and sciences education, and champions freedom of thought and inquiry as the bedrock of a democratic society. Visit the PBK web site to learn more about the Society's advocacy work, and their activity related to current events affecting higher education in the United States.