Former Senator Jim Talent to Deliver Keynote Address at 2008 Hooding Ceremony

April 1, 2008

The law school is pleased to announce that former United States Senator James Talent will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Law School Hooding Ceremony on Sunday May 18 at 1:45pm in Wait Chapel.

Jim Talent's career in public service began in 1984, when at the age of 28 he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives where he served eight years, the last four as the senior Republican leader in the Missouri House. In 1992, he was elected to the first of four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives where he represented Missouri's Second Congressional District. During his eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Talent co-authored the historic welfare reform bill, championed national security issues on the House Armed Services Committee, and enacted legislation to help revitalize urban neighborhoods and help lower healthcare costs.

In 2002, Missourians elected Talent to serve in the United States Senate where he worked with Republicans and Democrats to enact critical legislation for Missouri. Working with Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, Senator Talent was successful in securing critical funding and construction bonds in the highway bill and with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Talent succeeded in passing the most comprehensive anti-meth bill ever enacted into law. In the summer of 2005, Senator Talent led the fight to add a renewable fuels standard to the energy bill and now, 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel must be added to the nation's fuel supply by 2012.

In November 2006, Talent lost his re-election bid by a narrow margin to Claire McCaskill.  Talent then served as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney’s 2008 Presidential campaign and as a distinguished fellow with the Heritage Foundation.  He recently joined Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations, one of the world’s leading public relations firms, as Co-Chairman.

Talent was born and raised in Des Peres, Mo. He is a 1978 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where he received the Arnold J. Lien Prize for most outstanding political science student. He graduatedOrder of the Coif from University of Chicago Law School in 1981, then clerked for Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for two years. He and his wife, Brenda, have three children. The family lives in Chesterfield, Mo.

Click here for more information on the Law School Hooding and University Commencement Ceremonies.