Faculty & Administration

Professor Dr. iur. Siegfried Wiessner, Professor of Law, Director, LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights, St. Thomas University College of Law; Chair, International Law Association Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2008-2012).

Professor Dr. iur. Roza Pati, St. John Paul II Distinguished Professor of Law; Director, LL.M./ J.S.D. Program in Intercultural Human Rights; Founder & Director, John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy, St. Thomas University College of Law. Former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Member—Secretary of State for Youth and Women, in the government of Albania. Member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (2012-2017), Member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (2020-Present), The Vatican.

Faculty and Guest Lecturers

Each year, we bring on campus some of the top experts from leading institutions for the protection of human rights. As a mentor of the entire program, we recognize:

Professor W. Michael Reisman, Ph.D., Myres S. McDougal Professor of International Law, Yale Law School, former President, Inter-American Human Rights Commission

 

Additionally, our students have the honor of learning from many distinguish scholars and practitioners, including:

His Excellency Judge Dr. Fausto Pocar, Professor of International Law Emeritus, University of Milan, Italy; Member, Appeals Chamber, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (since 2000); President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2005-2008); and former Chairman, United Nations Human Rights Committee (1984-2000)

His Excellency Ahmed Amin Fathalla, Chair, United Nations Human Rights Committee (2021); Member of the International Law Commission

The Honorable Virginia Bras Gomes, Chair, United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2018); Senior Social Policy Adviser for the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal

Professor Federico Lenzerini, University of Siena Faculty of Law, Italy; Rapporteur, International Law Association Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2008-2012)

Ambassador (ret.) Marisa R. Lino, Political Scientist, RAND Corporation; Associate Fellow, International Institute of Strategic Studies (2020-2022); Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, DHS (2007-2008); U.S. Ambassador to Albania (1996-1999).

Dr. Craig Hammer, Program Manager with the Development Data Group at the World Bank, and Manager of The World Bank’s Global Data Facility

Professor Dr. Abadir M. Ibrahim, Associate Director, Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School

Professor Jaime Olaiz-González, Professor of Constitutional Theory, International Law and American Jurisprudence, and Associate Dean for International Programs, Universidad Panamericana Law School, Mexico City, Mexico

Professor Nicholas Rostow, Distinguished Research Professor & Director, Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington D.C.

Professor Dr. iur. Markus Krajewski, Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, New York City

Professor Christine Jeangey, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Officer, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, The Vatican; Expert of the Holy See, Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CDDH)

Professor Dr. Cosmin Corendea, Professor of law and Vice-Dean, School of Environment and Sustainability, O.P. Jindal Global University (Delhi, India); former Associate Academic Officer and Legal Expert, Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University; and former Legal Officer for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Professor Tebaldo Vinciguerra, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, The Vatican

Professor Gordon Butler, Professor of Law, St. Thomas University College of Law

Professor Emeritus and former Dean John Makdisi, S.J.D. & Ph.D., St. Thomas University College of Law

 

Recent eminent guest lecturers from the international human rights community include:

Professor Dr. iur. Eckart Klein, Professor Emeritus of Public Law, International Law and European Law, University of Potsdam, Germany; Member, United Nations Human Rights Committee (1995-2002)

Professor Nora V. Demleitner, President, St. Johns College-Annapolis; Dean & Roy Steinhauser Professor of Law, Washington & Lee University School of Law (2012-2015)

Professor Francesco Francioni, Professor Emeritus and Co-Director, Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence, Italy; former President, UNESCO World Heritage Committee

Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, D.Phil. (Oxon.), Professor of International Refugee Law (1998-2014) and Emeritus Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford University, U.K.

Professor Tiyanjana Maluwa, Ph.D. (Cantab.), H. Laddie Montague Chair in Law & Associate Dean for International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law; former  Legal Counsel, OAU (now African Union) and former Legal Adviser to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Professor Dr. Keith D. Nunes, former Program Coordinator, M.A. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Nathan Weiss Graduate College at Kean University

Professor Daniel Wilkinson, Managing Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, New York City

Professor Dr. Mark Dell Kielsgard Associate Professor of Law, City University of Hong Kong

Professor Elsa Meany, Senior Program Officer, Center for Justice and International Law, Washington, DC

Professor Lauren Gilbert, Professor of Law, St. Thomas University College of Law

Professor Alfred R. Light, Ph.D., Professor of Law, St. Thomas University College of Law

Dr. rer. oec. Toni Pfanner, former Chief Legal Advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross; now ICRC Representative in Singapore

Professor Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Washington, D.C.