The Julian J. Rothbaum Distinguished Lecture is sponsored and administered by the Carl Albert Center of the University of Oklahoma. The Lecture is delivered in odd-numbered years to avoid conflict with debate surrounding the congressional elections. Each Rothbaum lecturer is invited to give a series of three related lectures during a period ofone week. The lectures are free and open to the public. These three lectures, suitably revised and extended, are then published as a book by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Julian J. Rothbaum  (1913-2003)

The Rothbaum Lecture is named in honor of Mr. Julian J. Rothbaum of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a leader in Oklahoma civicaffairs, an important supporter of the University of Oklahoma, and a lifelong friend of Speaker Carl Albert. Mr. Rothbaum attended the University of Oklahoma from 1932 to 1936 and was president of the student body during his senior year. In 1938, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He served a four-year tour in the Army during World War II. In 1946 he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to serve as the first director of the newly created Tulsa District of the Federal Housing Administration and was the youngest FHA director in the United States at that time. In the early 1950s, he owned and oeprated the Julian J. Rothbaum Mortgage Banking Comapny, and he served as president of the Oklahoma Mortgage Bankers Association in 1953. He later became associated with Francis Oil & Gas, Inc. of Tulsa, and eventually served as chairman of the board from 1966 until his death on September 26, 2003. 

Mr. Rothbaum actively supported education in the state of Oklahoma throughout his life. He established student awards in honor of Carl Albert at The University of Oklahoma and McAlester (Okla.) High School as well as the Carl Albert Prize at St. Peters College, Oxford University.

In addition, Mr. Rothbaum sponsored awards in music and in petroleum land management for outstanding students at the University of Oklahoma and, with his wife Irene, endowed a Presidential Professorship of Excellence in the College of Fine Arts. After his wife's death in 1996, Mr. Rothbaum honored her by endowing the Irene Rothbaum Award for the Outstanding Assistant Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.  In 1998 he established at the OU College of Law an annual award in honor of his son, Joel Jankowsky, to recognize the graduating student who exemplifies the highest standard of excellence in leadership, scholarship, and selfless service to others. In 2003, Mr. Rothbaum established the Irene and Julian Rothbaum Professor of History endowed chair.

Mr. Rothbaum served two terms on the Board of Regents of The University of Oklahoma. He was also a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1986. He was the Special Advisor on Higher Education to Governor David Walters in the early 1990s.

In honor of this record of service, The University of Oklahoma awarded him the Distinguished Service Citation in 1974 and an honorary doctorate in 1993. 

The Lecture

The Rothbaum Lecture has as its general theme the role of representative institutions in the United States. In addition, the lecture addresses two principles that are of major significance to Mr. Rothbaum: the importance of the relationship between education and public service in a representative democracy and the importance of participation by private citizens in public affairs.  (Pictured: James MacGregor Burns, the Rothbaum Lecturer in 1987)

The commitment to the relationship between education and public service has been guided by Mr. Rothbaum's conviction that the success of representative institutions and the future of representative government depend upon human enlightenment in general and civic education in particular. Widespread education not only creates the conditions within which broad-based participation in political affairs is possible, but also enhances the quality of that participation. 

Because participation in political affairs is not restricted to public officials, a second major commitment is the importance of the participation by private citizens in public affairs. Alexis de Tocqueville, in the last century, wrote that the strength of American democracy lay in the willingness of average citizens to involve themselves in the affairs of the community. Mr. Rothbaum's commitment to this notion has been illustrated by his own service to his country, his state, and his community. 

The Rothbaum Lecture, embodying these principles, is an event of national significance. Rothbaum lecturers are sought from among the most able and discerning observers of American life. The published volumes that arise from this lecture form an invaluable repository of analysis and reflection upon the American condition. Thus, the Rothbaum Lecture performs an important national service and, in so doing, addresses squarely the concerns of the man in whose honor it is named. 

The Lecturers

John Brademas   ~  1983 
Former majority whip of U.S. House and president emeritus of New York University
Lecture Title: Politics, Education and the National Interest
Book (1987):  The Politics of Education: Conflict and Consensus on Capitol Hill.

Barber B. Conable, Jr.  ~  1985 
Former member of Congress and former president of The World Bank.
Lecture Title: The Congress and the Income Tax.
Book (1989):  Congress and the Income Tax (out of print)

James MacGregor Burns   ~  1987 
Professor of Political Science, Williams College.
Lecture Title: Majority Rule and Individual Rights.
Book (1990): Cobblestone Leadership: Majority Rule, Minority Power (out of print).

Samuel P. Huntington   ~  1989 
Director, John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University.
Lecture Title: The Third Wave: Democratization in Today's World.
Book (1991): The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century.

Theodore J. Lowi   ~  1991 
John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions, Cornell University.
Lecture Title: The End of the Republican Era.
Book (1995): The End of the Republican Era

Richard F. Fenno, Jr.   ~  1993 
Kenan Professor of Political Science, University of Rochester.
Lecture Title: Senators and Citizens: A View from the Campaign Trail.
Book (1996): Senators on the Campaign Trail: The Politics of Representation (out of print)

Charles O. Jones   ~  1995 
Hawkins Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Lecture Title: A Presidency at Risk? 
Book (1999):  Clinton and Congress: 1993-1996: Risk, Restoration, and Reelection (out of print)

Seymour Martin Lipset  ~  1997 
Hazel Professor of Public Policy at the Institute of Public Policy, George Mason University, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. 
Lecture Title: The Development of Democracy.
Book (2004):  The Democratic Century

Theda Skocpol   ~  1999    http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=978-0-8061-3627-1
Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University.
Lecture Title:  Civic Engagement in America.
Book (2003):  Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life

Matthew Holden, Jr.  ~  2001
Henry L. and Grace M. Doherty Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia.
Lecture Title:  Public Administration and Political Power.
Book:  forthcoming.

Barbara Sinclair  ~  2003
The Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Lecture Title:  Partisanship, Institutional Transformation, and PR Politics: The Shaping of the Congressional Policy-Making Process.
Book (2006):  Party Wars: Polarization and the Politics of National Policy Making

Morris P. Fiorina  ~  2005

Wendt Family Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

Lecture Title:  The Great Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in Contemporary America

Book (2009):  Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics

Jennifer Hochschild  ~  2007

Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government, Harvard University

Lecture Title:  Facts, Politics, and Democracy

Book:  forthcoming

(All books are published by The University of Oklahoma Press.) 

The Rothbaum Lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact LaDonna Sullivan at the Carl Albert Center. The Rothbaum Lecture is part of the Carl Albert Center's public outreach program. Accommodations on the basis of disability are available by contacting the Carl Albert Center.