The investiture of former UNLV law professor Jay S. Bybee as a judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set for Oct. 17 on the university campus.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which will take place at 2 p.m. on the plaza located between Boyd Hall and the James E. Rogers Center for Administration and Justice, the two buildings that house UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law.

Presiding at the event will be Judge Mary M. Schroeder, chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A number of other judges from the court are expected to attend.

U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., will speak, as will Bybee's sister, Karen Bybee; his friend, Randall D. Guynn; Richard Morgan, dean of the law school; and Daniel J. Bryant, U.S. assistant attorney general.

Bybee was a member of the Boyd Law School faculty from 1999 until 2001 when President Bush appointed him assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2002, the president nominated Bybee to be a judge on the appellate court; that nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March of this year. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the oath of office to Bybee on March 28. The event at UNLV will be a ceremonial investiture.

Bybee, who was on the law school faculty at Louisiana State University before coming to UNLV, taught constitutional law, administrative law, and civil procedure at both schools. His scholarly interests have been primarily in the areas of constitutional and administrative law. His articles have been published in many journals, including "The Yale Law Journal," "Vanderbilt Law Review," "Northwestern University Law Review," and "The George Washington University Law Review."

Bybee, who maintains judicial chambers in Las Vegas, graduated magna cum laude and with highest honors from Brigham Young University. He then went on to graduate cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he served on the editorial board of the "BYU Law Review."

Following graduation from law school, he served as law clerk to Judge Donald Russell of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He later worked as an attorney with the firm of Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C., followed by a stint with the Justice Department, first in the office of legal policy and later on the appellate staff of the civil division. From 1989 to 1991 he worked at the White House as associate counsel to the president.