Geoffrey R. Stone

Geoffrey R. Stone served as the ninth Provost of the University of Chicago. Stone attended the University of Chicago Law School where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. He graduated in 1971 and went on to clerk first for the Honorable J. Skelly Wright and then for the Honorable William J. Brennan Jr. of the United States Supreme Court. Stone returned to the University in 1973 as a Professor of Law and was eventually appointed Dean of the Law School in 1987. He served in this position until 1994, when he was appointed Provost of the University of Chicago.

Stone is a noted First Amendment scholar and is currently the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor. He frequently writes op-eds for various newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He also writes regularly for The Huffington Post and is an editor for The Supreme Court Review. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the America Law Institute, the National Advisory Council of the American Civil Liberties Union, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Most recently, Stone served as Chair of the Committee on Freedom of Expression charged with preparing a statement that articulated the University’s commitment to “to free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation among all members of the University's community.” The resulting policy statement was widely endorsed by universities and organizations in support of free speech.

From July through October 2015, Stone served as the interim Dean of the Law School until Thomas J. Miles was named Dean.