In a talk as timely as it is fascinating, award-winning author, constitutional scholar, and Duquesne University President Ken Gormley will be making a special trip to The Westport Library on Wednesday, April 26, to speak on presidential scandals.
The event, which will take place at 7 pm in the Trefz Forum, will be moderated by noted attorney Steve Parrish. The talk is free and open to the public; please register in advance.
Gormley, who has published bestselling books on Watergate, the scandals that engulfed the Clinton presidency, and constitutional crises facing U.S. presidents throughout history, will discuss these topics and more — and connect them to current issues confronting Donald J. Trump during and after his presidency.
“President Gormley is an accomplished author, historian, and scholar, as well as a sought-after speaker,” said Bill Harmer, Westport Library executive director. “We’re thrilled he can be here with us to discuss what we’re sure will be a topic of great interest to our — and every — community.”
Gormley’s first book, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation, the authorized biography of one of the leading lawyers and public servants of the 20th century, was awarded the 1999 Bruce K. Gould Book Award for outstanding publication relating to the law. In 2010, he published The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, a New York Times bestseller chronicling the scandals that nearly destroyed the Clinton presidency, which received a 2011 Silver-Gavel Award (Honorable Mention) from the American Bar Association.
His most recent non-fiction work, The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, was published by NYU Press in 2016 and was likewise critically lauded. The Presidents and the Constitution came out as a two-volume paperback in the fall of 2022, with a new chapter on the Trump presidency.
Gormley, who was named Duquesne's 13th president in July 2016, previously served as dean and professor in the Duquesne University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and taught at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He has testified in the U.S. Senate three times; served as president of the Allegheny County Bar Association, the first academic to hold that position in the organization's 137-year history; and was mayor of Forest Hills, Pennsylvania, from 1998 to 2001.
Parrish is the founder of Steve Parrish Consulting Group, LLC, specializing in crisis management, corporate social responsibility, public affairs, and communications for senior executives. Previously, he was senior vice president of corporate affairs for Altria Group, Inc., and served as secretary of the public affairs and social responsibility committee of the board of directors of Altria Group, Inc.
In addition, Parrish is a member of the board of trustees of Carleton College, the board of directors of Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, and the board of directors of Orchestra Lumos. He is also board member emeritus and past board chair of Safe Horizon, an internationally recognized leader in the field of victim assistance. His past board service includes the United Negro College Fund and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
