The Alturas Institute advances its mission—promotion of the Constitution, civic education and gender equality-- through conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures throughout Idaho.
Dr. David Adler
David Gray Adler is President of The Alturas Institute, a non-profit organization created to promote the Constitution, gender equality, and civic education. A recipient of teaching, writing and civic awards, Adler has lectured nationally and internationally, and published widely, on the Constitution, presidential power and the Bill of Rights. He is the author of six books, including, most recently, The War Power in an Age of Terrorism, as well as more than 100 scholarly articles in the leading journals of his field. He is currently writing a book on the landmark Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Reed, which had its origins in Idaho and transformed the law for American women. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will write the foreword to the book, the research and writing of which is supported by a research fellowship from the Idaho Humanities Council.
Adler’s scholarly writings have been quoted by the U.S. Supreme Court, lower federal courts, the U.S. Attorney General, the White House Counsel, the Legal Adviser to the State Department, by Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress, as well as political scientists, historians and law professors. He has consulted with members of Congress from both parties on a variety of constitutional issues, including impeachment, the war power and the termination of treaties. He has delivered more than 700 public lectures throughout Idaho, and writes Op-Ed pieces that run regularly in six newspapers across our state, and in papers across the country.
Adler has taught courses on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court at all three universities in Idaho. He has held the Andrus Professorship at Boise State University, where he served as Director of The Andrus Center for Public Policy, and the McClure Professorship at the University of Idaho, where he was Director of the James and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research, and held a joint appointment in the College of Law and the Department of Political Science. Previously, he was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at Idaho State University. He remains a Lecturer at the University of Idaho College of Law. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Idaho Humanities Council’s Distinguished Humanities Award.
A frequent commentator on state and national events, Adler’s lectures have aired on C-Span, and he has done interviews with reporters from the New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, National Review, The Nation Magazine, Mother Jones, Fox News, NPR, NBC, CNN and the BBC. Adler has served as a member of the Board of Directors of various academic, corporate and civic organizations, and is a founding member of the City Club of Idaho Falls. He earned a B.A. from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.