2026 Joseph Story Award Winner: Prof. J. Joel Alicea
2026 National Student Symposium
2026 National Student Symposium
On March 14, 2026, the Federalist Society presented the Joseph Story Award to Professor J. Joel Alicea of The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Given annually, the award recognizes a young academic who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society.
Click here to learn more about Prof. J. Joel Alicea.
Click here to read the annoucement of the award.
Click here to read Prof. J. Joel Alicea's Remarks Upon Received the Joseph Story Award.
Click here to learn more about the Joseph Story Award.
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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law; Nonresident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, The Catholic University of America
José Joel Alicea is the inaugural St. Robert Bellarmine Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty Research, and Director of the Law School’s Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Duke Law School and Notre Dame Law School. Prior to joining the Catholic Law faculty, Professor Alicea practiced law for several years at the law firm of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, where he specialized in constitutional litigation. He previously served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., on the United States Supreme Court and for Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Professor Alicea’s scholarship has focused on constitutional theory. His scholarship has appeared, or is forthcoming, in the Yale Law Journal, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, and the Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He has also been active in public debates about constitutional law, testifying before Congress and publishing essays in places like The New York Times, City Journal, and National Affairs.
Professor Alicea is a Fellow at the Columbus School of Law's Center for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at The American Enterprise Institute. He is the recipient of several research and teaching awards, including the student-selected Professor of the Year teaching award.
Chair of the Joseph Story Award, University of Chicago Student Chapter
Spencer Shia ('26) took his BA with First-Class Honors from University College London in 2021. He subsequently took his MPhil from Exeter College, Oxford in 2023. He split his 1L summer between the U.S. Army JAG Corps and the Tennessee Solicitor General's Office. He spent his 2L summer at the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. At UChicago, Spencer is a Research Assistant to Professor William P. Baude and a member of the Edmund Burke Society. After graduation, Spencer will clerk for the Hon. Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for the Hon. Anna M. Manasco of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. His favorite essay in the Federalist Papers is No. 51.