The William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government
The William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government was founded in 2006 and encourages academic and public understanding of the constitutional structures of government:
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the separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government
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the balance of powers between the federal and state governments
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judicial independence
In addition to convening leading scholarly events and discussions, the Rehnquist Center provides opportunities for Arizona students, faculty and members of the public to observe the workings of the U.S. constitutional system up close and to hear from leading state and national officials about the most pressing challenges facing constitutional government in our time.
Featured Event
2025 National Conference of Constitutional Law Scholars
March 28–29, 2025
Tucson, Arizona
The conference creates a vibrant and useful forum for constitutional scholars to gather and exchange ideas.
Featured Speakers
Ned Foley: Trump's Eligibility for Reelection, What Will the Supreme Court Decide? (2024)
David Strauss: 2019 National Conference of Constitutional Law Scholars
2018 Constitution Day Supreme Court Review
Support the Center
Donations to the Rehnquist Center allow us to promote creative, cutting-edge thinking about the constitutional structures of democratic government. Through our leading national conference and dynamic public engagement events, we are addressing the tremendous strain facing the institutions of constitutional democracy in the U.S. and around the world.
Founding Boards of the Rehnquist Center
Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Sandra Day O’Connor, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Retired
Honorable Earl H. Carroll, Then-U.S. District Judge
Maureen Mahoney, Former clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist and then-partner at Latham & Watkins
Toni Massaro, Then-Dean, University of Arizona College of Law
Michael J. Meehan, Appellate attorney and former clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist
Brian Morris, Former clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist and then-Justice, Montana Supreme Court
James C. Rehnquist, Attorney and partner at Goodwin Procter
Sally M. Rider, Center Director
Honorable Shirley S. Abrahamson, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Honorable W. Scott Bales, Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
Craig Bradley, Robert A. Lucus Professor of Law, Indiana University Law School
Charles J. Cooper, founder and chair of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
Richard W. Garnett, Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School
Vicki C. Jackson, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown Law School
Robert A. Katzmann, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Frederick Lambert, Professor of Law, University of California Hastings Law School
Honorable David Levi, Dean, Duke University Law School
Victoria Nourse, Burrus-Bascom Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School
Richard H. Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University Law School
Judith Resnick, Arthur Liman Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Robert Schapiro, Associate Dean of Faculty, Professor of Law, Emory Law School
Mark T. Stancil, Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP
Barton H. Thompson Jr., Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law and Co-Director, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford Law School
Honorable J. Clifford Wallace, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Leadership
Andrew Coan is Director of the Rehnquist Center and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Stanford Law School. Prior to entering the legal academy, he clerked for Richard Posner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Coan is the author of two books: Prosecuting the President (Oxford University Press 2019) and Rationing the Constitution (Harvard University Press 2019). His work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, CNN.com, and USA Today, as well as the nation's leading law journals.