Philip Hamburger is the Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law at the Columbia University School of Law.  He is a distinguished legal historian and a scholar of constitutional law and is known for his work on the First Amendment--both on religious liberty and on freedom of speech.  Before moving to Columbia, he was the John P. Wilson Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, where he was also Director of the Bigelow Program and the Legal History Program.  He was previously Oswald Symyster Colclough Research Professor at George Washington University Law School and, before that, he taught at the University of Connecticut Law School.  He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia Law School and was the Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Northwestern Law School. 

Philip Hamburger received his B.A. in history (summa cum laude) from Princeton University and his J.D.  from the Yale University Law School.  Early in his career, he was an Associate at the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis in Philadelphia.

Philip Hamburger's scholarship focuses on constitutional law and its history.  His publications include:  Separation of Church and State (Harvard Univ. Press 2002); "Getting Permission," Columbia Law Review (2007); "Religious Liberty in Philadelphia," Emory Law Journal (2005); "The New Censorship: Institutional Review Boards," Supreme Court Review (2004); "More is Less," Virginia Law Review (2004); "Liberality," Texas Law Review (2002).

Among his awards are the Colby Townsend Prize (Yale Law School, 1982), the Sutherland Prize (American Society of Legal History, 1991 and 1995), and the Henry Paolucci/Walter Bagehot Book Award (2009) for his recent book, Law and Judicial Duty. 

American Council of Learned Societies President emeritus Stanley N.  Katz writes "Philip Hamburger has, simply, produced the best and most important book ever written on the subject of the separation of church and state in the United States. . . .  Hamburger underplays the current constitutional implications of his historical arguments, but it is clear that this book will have a profound impact on the current law and politics of church and state."

Philip Hamburger writes in his article, "The New Censorship: Institutional Review Boards," the following:

"Are federal regulations on Institutional Review Boards -- commonly known as IRBs -- compatible with the First Amendment? The regulations aim to protect human subjects by creating a system of licensing research.  Under this system, universities establish IRBs, and researchers must get the prior permission of an IRB before doing research on human subjects.  At first glance, it may seem only appropriate that researchers should get permission before performing research on human beings.  The First Amendment, however, prohibits the federal government from imposing a system of licensing speech or the press, and it therefore seems necessary to consider whether the regulations on IRBs are unconstitutional."