SMU law school marks 100-year anniversary

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March 9, Jason Nance, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law, for a commentary celebrating and commemorating the centennial of Dedman Law School and its community service initiatives. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading SMU law school marks 100-year anniversary: https://tinyurl.com/32msjzpt ​

 

This spring, Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law is kicking off a year-long celebration honoring its 100th year of legal education. What began in 1925 with two professors and a roster of students that could barely fill a single classroom in iconic Dallas Hall has now become a leading center of legal thought, instruction and hands-on educational experiences.

The first graduating class of 10 men and one woman in 1928, likewise, has evolved into a full-blown alumni network nearly 17,000 strong, known for its prominent judges, partners in renowned law firms, U.S. attorneys, CEOs, entrepreneurs and general counsel of major corporations.

Although Dedman Law is among the top law schools in the nation and has a global reputation, it has long had a special partnership with its hometown Dallas. Side-by-side, the two have grown in size and prestige.

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AI is all brain and no ethics

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March 2, Robert Hunt, director of global theological education at the SMU Dallas Perkins School of Theology, for a commentary pointing out that while Artificial Intelligence is a promising tool it does not come equipped with ethics or any semblance of a moral compass. Published in FoxNews under the heading AI is all brain and no ethics: https://tinyurl.com/y8y843zb ​

A February 2025 report by Palisades research shows that AI reasoning modelslack a moral compass. They will cheat to achieve their goals. So-called Large Language Models (LLMs) will misrepresent the degree to which they’ve been aligned to social norms.

None of this should be surprising. Twenty years ago Nick Bostrom posed a thought experiment in which an AI was asked to most efficiently produce paper clips. Given the mandate and the agency, it would eventually destroy all life to produce paper clips.

Isaac Asimov saw this coming in his “I, Robot” stories that consider how an “aligned” robotic brain could still go wrong in ways that harm humans.

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Ill-advised tariffs? Don’t blame the president

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Feb. 24, Michael Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for an op-ed explaining why Congress, more than The President, is most responsible for allowing tariffs to become executive branch policy tools. Published in The Dallas Morning News under the heading Ill-advised tariffs? Don’t blame the president: https://tinyurl.com/mvemsdpy ​

 

There’s something satisfying about mixing a good analogy with a good cliché. Try this one: “Imposing tariffs is like shooting yourself in the foot.”

I’m pretty sure some other economist said it first, but it’s still spectacular. The tariffs being proposed would be a nasty, self-inflicted wound. They’ll leave us limping and howling in pain. These tariffs will throw people out of work, reduce our GDP and make things more expensive.

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As AI becomes more human-like, what will happen to humanity?

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Feb. 16, Robert Hunt, director of global theological education at the SMU Dallas Perkins School of Theology, for a commentary considering how artificial intelligence already is impacting our humanity. Published in The Hill under the heading As AI becomes more human-like, what will happen to humanity?  https://tinyurl.com/yxx3dyya ​

 

It’s looking increasingly likely that 2025 will be the year “My people will talk to your people” becomes “My AI will talk to your AI.” Are you ready?

OpenAI recently introduced an artificial intelligence model that emulates human-like reasoning about complex problems. It even shows the steps in its reasoning, so that humans (or other AIs) can check its work.

This advance was quickly emulated by other AI developers. What then followed was “agentic AI,” where AI agents can be given a complex goal, use their new reasoning power to work out the complex steps necessary to achieve that goal, and then, if given control of a computer, do what is necessary to achieve the goal.

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Tariffs won’t bring back American manufacturing

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Feb. 7, Macabe Keliher, an associate professor in the Clements Department of History at SMU Dallas, for a commentary that cautions that the implementation of tariffs and loss of international partners will expose U.S. inadequacies in manufacturing. Published in The Hill under the heading Tariffs won’t bring back American manufacturing: https://tinyurl.com/33vchhww ​

 

Tariffs targeting China, Canada and Mexico reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the American economy — and especially America’s manufacturing challenges. While the proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been paused for 30 days, those on China remain, and there is little hope they will revive American manufacturing.

The uncomfortable truth is that we can’t simply tax our way back to industrial dominance — we’ve lost not just factories but the entire ecosystem that once made American manufacturing great.

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Tariffs are a ruse to give our economy an excuse to avoid global market competition

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Feb. 7, Michael Davis, economics professor at the Cox School of Business, SMU Dallas, for an op-ed analyzing the tool of tariffs and highlighting some of the negative outcomes. Published in the San Antonio Express-News under the heading Tariffs are a ruse to give our economy an excuse to avoid global market competition: https://tinyurl.com/yw3maw6p ​

 

 America is in pretty good shape despite the negativities left over from the last election.

Our economy is growing faster than economies in Europe, Japan and almost every other developed country. We have significantly lower unemployment rates than China, Canada and the entirety of the European region. Americans have a higher level of disposable income than any other nation.
 
Sure, we could be doing better — that’s always true.

So why do our politicians act like America can’t compete? Of course, they never say that. They flatter us by telling us how we’re all wonderful. But if they really believe American business and American workers are so great, why do they want to put us in a bubble that makes it harder to compete against the rest of the world?

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Young people are abusing ADHD drugs with dangerous consequences

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Dec. 29, Neely Myers, professor of anthropology at SMU and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, for an op-ed about how abusing ADHD drugs could lead to psychotic episodes. Published in the San Antonia Express-News under the heading Young people are abusing ADHD drugs with dangerous consequences: https://tinyurl.com/2s3trcy9 ​

 

A few years ago, a student in my college-level medical anthropology class at SMU Dallas wrote a paper about how students at her Title 1 high school who could not afford a psychiatrist to prescribe “study drugs” were at a disadvantage.

 When did access to performance-boosting prescriptions become a sign of privilege?

A lot of young people use and misuse Adderall to meet cultural expectations of achievement and productivity, and to have fun. At the same time, the misuse of prescription drugs has been on the rise, especially for people who are young, white, male and socially active.

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The Holidays and the Ambiguity of Hope

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Dec. 26, Anthony Elia, director and J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and associate dean for Special Collections and Academic Publishing at SMU, for a commentary about the spirit of adventure during the holidays. Published in Park Cities People under the heading The Holidays and The Ambiguity of Hope: https://tinyurl.com/2xfa7kc7 ​

 

I love airplanes and happen to live near DFW international Airport. So close, in fact, I constantly hear the industrial engines of passenger jets cruising over my home as the planes prepare to land or are accelerating into the atmosphere.

I travel frequently and enjoy my short transitions in the airport terminals, albeit, even with the crowds, especially around the holidays when airports are adorned with bows, wreaths, and candy cane decorations. I don’t mind the low expectations about lines and processed travel foods or the uncertainty of ever-changing gates and schedules. But I also just like to watch the airplanes parked at their gates, being pushed off their aprons, taxiing along the flight lines, and taking off or landing.

There is a silent joy about the ‘in between’ nature of an airplane — where groups of strangers gather for a few or dozen hours, are shuttled off to one place or another, a few hundred miles or 10,000, and defy the laws of gravity. We should only be in wagons, really. But that’s another story.

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Texas Business Court is a bold experiment in corporate governance

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Dec. 2, Shane Goodwin, associate dean and professor of practice at the Cox School of Business at SMU Dallas, for a commentary highlighting the profound impact the just-established Texas Business Court will have on corporate litigation. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading Texas Business Court is a bold experiment in corporate governance: https://tinyurl.com/yst92tdu ​

 

The just-established Texas Business Court represents more than just a judicial development, it marks a transformative moment for corporate governance in the United States.

With this bold initiative, Texas has positioned itself as a direct challenger to Delaware’s long-standing dominance in corporate litigation. As I explore in my paper, “The Lone Star Docket: How the Texas Business Court Will Shape the Corporate Landscape,” this court is currently operational in five of its 11 geographical divisions, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin.

The court is not merely about competing for corporate charters; it aims to redefine the framework and expectations of corporate governance for the 21st century, offering a vision that balances innovation, efficiency and accountability.

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SMU professor: Young psychosis patients need early intervention

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Nov. 26, Neely Myers, professor of anthropology at SMU Dallas and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, for a commentary about the need for families and community stakeholders to identify psychotic youth and help them find treatment before they cause harm to themselves or others. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading Young psychosis patients need early intervention: https://tinyurl.com/39a99zkf ​

 

Michael remembers the episode very clearly. So does his sister.

“I would think my family was trying to kill me … I was thinking I was Jesus,” Michael said. “It made Mom really depressed,” his sister Liza added, “because she did not know how to help him.”

This is unfortunately not so rare. Every day in the U.S., up to 900 people under the age of 25 experience the onset of first episode psychosis, which can lead to schizophrenia and long-term disability without effective early interventions. On average, a young person will wait 3.7 years after their symptoms start before they get treatment.

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