Colleagues, former students, and alumni celebrate the legendary professor’s five decades of scholarship, leadership, and influence
During Reunion Weekend 2026, the Law School unveiled a portrait honoring Geoffrey R. Stone, ’71, a nationally renowned First Amendment and constitutional law scholar and academic leader who has taught at the Law School for more than a half century.
The portrait, which will hang in the classroom corridor alongside others of the Law School’s most influential figures, recognizes Stone’s wide-ranging contributions as a scholar, former dean of the Law School, former provost of the University, and chair of the committee that in 2015 drafted and released the highly acclaimed Stone Report, popularly referred to as the Chicago Principles. These academic free expression principles have since been adopted and adapted by universities across the country.
“Today we are honoring one of our most accomplished alums and one of our most distinguished faculty members, Geof Stone,” noted Dean Adam Chilton in his opening remarks at the May 2 event in the Law School auditorium.
Reflecting on Stone’s pivotal role in developing the Chicago Principles, Chilton said, “Nothing makes me prouder—and more committed to the University of Chicago—than the words in the Stone Report.”
Chilton emphasized the enduring significance of those principles, particularly their insistence that “the university guarantees all members of the university community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” In an era when many institutions were grappling with how to respond to controversial speech, Chilton noted, Stone helped articulate a framework that reaffirmed the University’s core commitments.
Speakers at the event traced that commitment across Stone’s career, from his days as a student in the late 1960s to his role as a leading voice on free expression in higher education.
