Cecil B. Day Program Presents Lucien Dhooge

This presentation will examine issues posed by the wide variety of state public accommodation statutes in the context of sexual orientation and religious freedom. The presentation will focus on whether there should be a religious exemption for secular businesses from public accommodation statutes that protect prospective patrons from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The presentation will examine this issue in the context of protecting free exercise of religion versus offering services to all members of the public equally and without distinction. 

Lucien J. Dhooge is the Sue and John Staton Professor of Law and Ethics at the Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He teaches international business law and ethics and serves as area coordinator for the law and ethics group. 

After completing an undergraduate degree in history at the University of Colorado in 1980, Professor Dhooge attended the University of Denver College of Law where he received his Juris Doctor in 1983. He received his LL.M. in 1995 from the Georgetown University Law Center where he specialized in international and comparative law. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Professor Dhooge spent eleven years in private law practice and twelve years serving on the faculty of the University of the Pacific in California. 

Professor Dhooge has authored more than fifty-five scholarly articles, co-authored thirteen books, and has presented research papers and courses throughout the United States as well as in Asia, Europe and South America. Professor Dhooge is the recipient of numerous research awards given by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including seven Ralph C. Hoeber Awards for excellence in research. He was designated the outstanding junior business law faculty member in the United States by the Academy in 2002 and received the Kay Duffy Award for outstanding service in 2005.

Professor Dhooge was the program chair for the Academy's 2009 international conference in Denver, Colorado and served as Academy President in 2009-10. Professor Dhooge is a past editor-in-chief of the American Business Law Journal and the Journal of Legal Studies Education.