Leon Kass Named to Deliver Jefferson Lecture

Leon R. Kass, a bioethicist, was named Monday by the National Endowment for the Humanities to give the 2009 Jefferson Lecture. The lectureship is one of the top honors the federal government sponsors for humanities scholars. Kass, a professor at the University of Chicago, was involved in several controversies during the Bush administration, when he served as chair of the President's Council on Bioethics and was viewed by some as too quick to regulate science. The lecture by Kass, " ‘Looking for an Honest Man’: Reflections of an Unlicensed Humanist," will take place on Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at the Warner Theatre in Washington.