About Us

In 2008–09 the University of Minnesota’s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences and Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences celebrated a tremendous milestone—our 10th anniversary. We began our University–wide planning process in 1998–99, greatly aided by then–Provost Robert Bruininks and then–Dean Tom Sullivan.

Colleagues from throughout the University and eminent members of our broader community met to dream up something that no other university had built—a genuinely cross–disciplinary program to tackle the most challenging problems looming in the 21st century, issues in health, the life sciences, and the environment. These are issues at the intersection of law, ethics, policy, science, and medicine; only a highly innovative and interdisciplinary effort can make genuine progress. In June of 1999 the Regents of this University approved our Joint Degree Program to recruit and train the next generation of thinkers and practitioners who will confront these problems. In Summer 2000, we launched a University–wide Consortium of centers and programs to pool expertise and resources to work on these problems and catalyze needed national debate.

We have accomplished a huge amount in the last 10 years. Our research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), The Greenwall Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project, and the Law School's Robina Fund for Law, Public Policy & Society (LaPPS), producing and publishing groundbreaking results. We have built a top journal, the Minnesota Journal on Law, Science & Technology. We have established the country’s leading Joint Degree Program for students combining a law degree with one of 23 other professional and graduate degrees and have already graduated 16 students who are making their mark. We have awarded over $700,000 in intramural funds to catalyze University–wide work on the societal implications of the life sciences. We have brought to campus the very top thinkers from around the country and beyond. We have established a national reputation for our programs and the University of Minnesota, as the place to turn for incisive, honest debate on these crucial issues and cutting–edge solutions.

Update on the Consortium on Law and Values

In 2008-09 the Consortium and Joint Degree celebrated our 10th Anniversary. Read on...