Anniversary Symposium

30th Anniversary: Three Decades of Civil Discourse on Difficult Issues

On November 25, 2015, the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law commemorated its 30th anniversary with a symposium and Celebratory Dinner. The event was possible through the generous support of the New York City Bar Associations Bioethical Issues Committee.

Opening Remarks

  • Howard Zucker, M.D., J.D., LL.M Commissioner, New York State Department of Health Chair, Task Force on Life and the Law
  • Stuart Sherman, J.D., M.P.H., Executive Director of the Task Force on Life and the Law

Gov. Cuomo and Others Remembered

  • Tracy Miller, J.D., Health Care Practice, Bond, Schoeneck & King, Former Task Force Executive Director

In Remembrance of

  • Governor Mario Cuomo
  • Commissioner David Axelrod
  • Commissioner Richard Daines
  • Adrienne Asch
  • John Arras
  • Richard Concannon
  • Barry Gold
  • Saul Farber
  • Georgia McMurray
  • John Regan
  • Barbara Shack
  • Robert Smith
  • Elizabeth Stack
  • Charles Tobin, Jr.

Bioethics: The Shape of the Field Today

  • Bruce Jennings, Director of Bioethics, Center for Humans and Nature, Senior Advisor, The Hastings Center
  • Mary Beth Morrissey, Ph.D., J.D., M.P.H Chair, Bioethical Issues Committee, NYCBA, Research Fellow and Director of Health Care Management Certificate Program, Global Healthcare Innovation Management Center, Fordham University

Keynote Address: "Bioethics at the Cutting Edge"

  • Arthur Caplan, Ph. D., Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty, Chair Director, Division of Medical Ethics, NYU Langone Medical Center

Three Decades of Civil Discourse on Difficult Issues

  • Carl Coleman, J.D., A.M., Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, Former Task Force Executive Director
  • Francis H. Geer, M. Div., Rector of St. Philip's Church in the Highlands in Garrison, N.Y., current Task Force member
  • Samuel Gorovitz, Ph. D., Professor of Philosophy; The College of Arts and Sciences, Syracuse, University, current Task Force member
  • Tracy Miller, J.D., Health Care Practice, Bond, Schoeneck & King, former Task Force Executive Director
  • Tia Powell, M.D., Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Bioethics, former Task Force Executive Director
  • Robert N. Swidler, J.D., V.P. Legal Services for St. Peter's Health Partners, current Task Force member, former Task Force Counsel
  • Moderator: Stuart Sherman, J.D., M.P.H., Executive Director, Task Force on Life and the Law
  • Panelists introduced by Susie Han, M.A., M.A., Deputy Director, Task Force on Life and the Law

20th Anniversary: Bioethics and Public Policy Initiatives: Celebrating the Past and Building the Future

On March 3, 2005, the New York State Task Force on Life & the Law commemorated its 20th Anniversary with a Symposium and Celebratory Luncheon. The event was funded by a generous grant from the Greenwall Foundation.

  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium
  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium

Opening Remarks

  • Donald P. Berens, Jr., J.D., General Counsel, New York State Department of Health
  • Alan Fleischman, M.D., Senior Advisor, The New York Academy of Medicine, and Ethics Advisor, National Children's Study, National Institutes of Health

Panel Discussion Participants

  • John D. Arras, Ph.D., Porterfield Professor of Biomedical Ethics, University of Virginia
  • Carl H. Coleman, J.D., Associate Professor of Law and Director, Health Law & Policy Program, Seton Hall University School of Law
  • Nancy Neveloff Dubler, LL.B., Director, Division of Bioethics, Montefiore Medical Center
  • Tracy E. Miller, J.D., General Counsel, Senior Vice President, Catholic Health Care System
  • Tia Powell, M.D., Executive Director, New York State Task Force on Life & the Law

Keynote Address: "What Bioethics Can Learn from AIDS Relief in Africa"

Mark Barnes, JD, LLM
Partner, Ropes & Gray

  • Photo: 20th Anniversary Symposium

Luncheon Speaker

  • Samuel Gorovitz, Ph.D., Founding Director, Renée Crown University Honors Program, Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University and Bioethicist in Residence, Yale University