Symposium to celebrate Julian Juergensmeyer's lifetime contributions to the law
February 18, 2010
ATLANTA—Considered an authority in land use and infrastructure and a pioneer in the development of impact fees, Georgia State University College of Law Professor Julian Juergensmeyer has devoted 45 years to these topics. His vast career took him to places such as a classroom guarded with a security force in Ethiopia, a bog in Poland, and the world’s largest water treatment facility in Rio de Janeiro.
In honor of Juergensmeyer's lifetime contributions to the law, a Festschrift symposium, entitled "A 2020 View of Urban Infrastructure," will be held March 25 to 26 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta. The symposium speakers are cohorts, with whom Juergensmeyer worked, studied, taught or co-authored publications and books during the last four-plus decades.
"Julian's impact on the development of law relating to growth, planning and the environment cannot be overstated," said College of Law Dean Steven J. Kaminshine. "His arrival here 10 years ago was a significant step in the advancement of this law school. This symposium serves as a well-deserved recognition of his distinguished career."
A Festschrift is considered one of the highest honors bestowed upon a scholar and what's presented will be turned into a book of work devoted to the topics that inspired Juergensmeyer during his career. It's set for publication in a special edition of The Urban Lawyer, a journal published by the American Bar Association.
The speakers will present on a variety of topics such as challenges and visions of infrastructure, future directions of growth, sprawl control through transportation, and social infrastructure.
Juergensmeyer has spent the last 10 years as Georgia State's first Ben F. Johnson chair in law. While with the College of Law, he launched the Center for the Study of Metropolitan Growth with Law Professor Colin Crawford. Together, they created the university's first joint law degree program with Georgia Tech.
"Julian has had a great influence in these areas of law nationally and internationally," said Colin Crawford, a professor in the College of Law and co-founder of the Center for the Study of Metropolitan Growth. "This event celebrates the accomplishments of a colleague whose work I believe can't be matched."
In 1963, Juergensmeyer earned his J.D. from Duke University, where he earlier had earned an A.B. in political science. He also received the equivalent of a master's degree in political studies from the University of Bordeaux, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.
At the launch of his career, Juergensmeyer practiced with the global law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey for two years before landing in the academic world on the law faculty of Indiana University.
With the exception of a brief sojourn at Tulane University, Juergensmeyer spent the bulk of his teaching career at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law. He retired from UF in 1999 after 30 years as a professor of law, Gerald A. Sohn Research Scholar and affiliate professor of urban and regional planning.
He came to Atlanta and GSU a little more than 10 years ago as the College of Law's first endowed chair.
Juergensmeyer has authored or co-authored more than 21 books, including "Land Use Planning and Development Regulation Law." That book, which he co-authored with Thomas E. Roberts, is widely used by law and planning practitioners and frequently cited by courts including the U.S. Supreme Court. The most recent books he co-authored include the just released "Impact Fees: Principles and Practice of Proportionate–Share Development Fees," and "Legal Systems and Wind Energy–A Comparative Perspective."
He also has loaned his voice for decades to the student study guides on audio, for which he has become somewhat of a legend.
Contact:
Renee DeGross Valdes, 404-413-1353
University Relations
More information: Symposium web site