Constitutional scholar, award-winning author and Duquesne University Chancellor Ken Gormley will deliver the 2026 Judge William O.E. Sterling Constitution Day Lecture at St. Mary’s College of Maryland on Monday, Sept. 14, from 7-9 p.m. in the Nancy R. and Norton T. Dodge Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.
Gormley’s lecture, “Presidents and the Constitution: The Fragile Balance of Power in American Democracy,” will examine the evolving history of presidential power in the United States, how it intersects, and at times collides, with the powers of Congress, the courts and the states, and recent expansions of executive power, particularly during the second Trump administration.
The event, sponsored by the Steny H. Hoyer Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College, is free and open to the public. Tickets and registration are not required.
“It’s important and timely to examine presidential power under the Constitution,” said Gormley. “It’s a lynchpin – unless that power is in alignment with the powers of co-equal branches, our constitutional system of government cannot function properly.”
"The US constitution is one of the most inspirational documents in western political history. The Constitution Day Lecture allows us to reflect upon this remarkable document through a contemporary lens, and it contributes to a shared public discourse by bringing a range of ideas to St. Mary's College and to our broader community," said Sahar Shafqat, interim director of the Hoyer Center for the Study of Democracy.
Gormley is chancellor and professor of law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he previously served for 10 years as president and seven years as dean of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law. A nationally recognized constitutional scholar, his work has focused extensively on the American presidency, constitutional law and pivotal moments in the nation’s political and legal history.
His most recent nonfiction book, “Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History,” examines the constitutional challenges faced by every U.S. president. A new edition, scheduled for publication in 2028, will include a chapter on President Donald Trump’s second term.
Gormley is also the author of “The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr,” a New York Times bestseller, and “Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation,” the authorized biography of the former Watergate special prosecutor. Gormley earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he served as Cox’s teaching assistant in constitutional law.
Gormley has testified three times before the U.S. Senate and has organized and moderated programs examining constitutional issues with U.S. Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor, former President Gerald R. Ford and former Vice President Mike Pence. He has also collaborated with the National Constitution Center on major public programs, many of which have been broadcast by C-SPAN.
The Judge William O.E. Sterling Constitution Day Lecture is an annual lecture held on or around Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Previous Constitution Day speakers have included Jamelle Bouie, Sherrilyn Ifill, Nina Totenberg, Neal Katyal and Congressman Jamie Raskin.
