BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:16076-94cebef2af95ac8f1ca267101a2a850d@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260430T130208Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250830T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250830T110000 SUMMARY:“Thirty years of Democracy and Constitutionalism in South Africa” with J ustice Leona Theron DESCRIPTION:\nJustice Leona Theron was born in Wentworth\, a working-cla ss township under apartheid\, and grew up in poverty. Despite these chal lenges\, she excelled academically and earned Bachelor of Arts and Bache lor of Laws degrees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 1989\, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and completed a Masters of Law degre e at Georgetown University\, Washington\, D.C. In the U.S.\, she also wo rked with the International Labour Organisation and a Los Angeles law fi rm.\n\nAfter ten years of practice as an advocate\, she was appointed in 1999 as the first Black woman judge of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court\, a nd at 32\, the youngest judge in South Africa. In 2010\, Justice Theron was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal as its youngest member\, and in 2017\, she joined the Constitutional Court\, South Afric a’s highest court. Over her 26 years on the bench\, she has been a leade r in judicial education\, served on multiple boards\, presented widely a t national and international conferences\, and made history as the first woman President of the Administrative Tribunal of the African Developme nt Bank.\n\nJustice Theron was also a founding member of the South Afric an Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). Unde r her leadership\, World Aids Day was celebrated on the steps of the Dur ban and Pietermaritzburg High Courts—an unprecedented initiative that ea rned her recognition as an “activist judge.”\n\nJustice Theron is widely recognized for her independent thinking and her jurisprudence on women’ s rights\, customary marriage\, gender-based violence\, children’s right s\, education\, and administrative law. Her landmark judgment in Gumede (2008) secured equal property rights for women in monogamous customary m arriages\, later upheld by the Constitutional Court. She is well known f or her strong stance against leniency in rape sentencing (State v Nkomo) \, her defense of learners’ rights in pregnancy and education cases\, an d her insistence on fair procedures in independent schools (AB v Pridwin Preparatory School).\n\nOver the years\, Justice Theron has received nu merous awards for her contributions to justice in South Africa. Outside the bench\, she is an avid hiker and has summited Mount Kilimanjaro.\n\n For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/theron/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Justice Leona Theron was born in Wentworth, a working-class township u nder apartheid, and grew up in poverty. Despite these challenges, she ex celled academically and earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws deg rees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 1989, she was awarded a Fu lbright Scholarship and completed a Masters of Law degree at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. In the U.S., she also worked with the Inter national Labour Organisation and a Los Angeles law firm.

After ten years of practice as an advocate, she was appointed in 1999 as the firs t Black woman judge of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, and at 32, the youn gest judge in South Africa. In 2010, Justice Theron was appointed as a J udge of the Supreme Court of Appeal as its youngest member, and in 2017, she joined the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court. Over her 26 years on the bench, she has been a leader in judicial education, served on multiple boards, presented widely at national and internation al conferences, and made history as the first woman President of the Adm inistrative Tribunal of the African Development Bank.

Justice Ther on was also a founding member of the South African Chapter of the Intern ational Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). Under her leadership, World Aids Day was celebrated on the steps of the Durban and Pietermaritzburg High Courts—an unprecedented initiative that earned her recognition as a n “activist judge.”

Justice Theron is widely recognized for her in dependent thinking and her jurisprudence on women’s rights, customary ma rriage, gender-based violence, children’s rights, education, and adminis trative law. Her landmark judgment in Gumede (2008) secured equal proper ty rights for women in monogamous customary marriages, later upheld by t he Constitutional Court. She is well known for her strong stance against leniency in rape sentencing (State v Nkomo), her defense of learners’ r ights in pregnancy and education cases, and her insistence on fair proce dures in independent schools (AB v Pridwin Preparatory School).

Ov er the years, Justice Theron has received numerous awards for her contri butions to justice in South Africa. Outside the bench, she is an avid hi ker and has summited Mount Kilimanjaro.

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/even t/theron/

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