William Alford

Here are some of the latest from HLS authors to add to your reading list over the holiday break.

At a Harvard Law School book talk and discussion on “Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses and Why It Matters,” panelists discussed the authors' major narratives for and against the economic phenomenon.

Catherine Peshkin has been appointed assistant dean for the Harvard Law School Graduate Program and International Legal Studies.

A 12-year Naval JAG career has taken Lt. Cmdr. Shawn Brennan LL.M. ’22 to Afghanistan, Japan and, most recently, the Pentagon.

In her new role as U.S. trade representative, Tai ’01 brings legal expertise, political savvy, and a deep commitment to American workers.

Jeanne Tai, who as a senior administrator at the HLS Graduate Program and International Legal Studies has deeply influenced the careers of thousands of lawyers and legal academics around the world, will retire on June 15 after 24 years at Harvard Law School.

Navy veteran Sean Quirk found a home for his interest in U.S.-China relations as a student at HLS — while one of its clinics supported his wife Sue's immigration process.

“Taiwan and International Human Rights: A Story of Transformation,” co-edited by Harvard Law School Professor William P. Alford ’77 was awarded the 2021 Certificate of Merit in a Specialized Area of International Law by the American Society of International Law In March.

Every summer since 2001, Chayes Fellows have worked with international organizations, governments, and NGOs around the world on issues of an international scope or relevant to countries in transition.

Visiting Professor Michael Ashley Stein ’88,  executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and Professor William P. Alford ’77, who cofounded the project, known as HPOD, were awarded the National Order of Merit by the president of Ecuador on March 8, in recognition of their work on disability.

Scholars, alumni, and friends from around the world commemorate Alford’s legacy and impact.

As William Alford completes his tenure, Mark Wu assumes vice deanship of the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at HLS.

After 18 years as its faculty director, Professor William P. Alford ’77 completed his tenure as vice dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School on June 30.

Mark Wu, the Henry L. Stimson Professor at Harvard Law School, was recently appointed the new vice dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies. He replaces William Alford, who served in the role for the past 18 years. 

From conformity and the power of social influences to felony and the guilty mind in Medieval England

This fall, the Harvard Law School Library hosted a series of book talks by Harvard Law School authors on topics ranging from forgiveness in law, transparency in health and fidelity in constitutional practice.

In 1968, Bob Beamon leapt into the Olympic history books with a long jump that shattered the existing record by nearly two feet. Beamon brought the historic moment to life for a crowd gathered at Harvard Law School in September, where he joined a panel to discuss his work as a Special Olympics global ambassador.

Ambassador Samantha Power ’99 expressed both skepticism and hope for the current state of international affairs during a panel discussion of her new memoir "The Education of an Idealist."

On August 19, Harvard Law School’s Graduate Program officially welcomed the LL.M. Class of 2020 to campus, along with eight new S.J.D. candidates and 10 international students from six of the law school’s exchange partner schools.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, HLS presented an inspiring conversation with Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan and Special Olympics medalist Melissa Joy Reilly.

William P. Alford ’77, the Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, has received the Li Buyun Law Prize from the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, a leading Chinese academic society.

Professor William Alford ’77 delivered a chair lecture on the occasion of his appointment as the inaugural Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School.

Dieter Grimm LL.M. ’65, a noted scholar, academic and public intellectual, and former justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, returned to Harvard Law School on September 18 to speak on “Courts under Political Pressure.”

On Sept. 17, the Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD) will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics with Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics International Board Chairman.

For more than two centuries, thousands of students have been shaped by -- and have shaped -- a great tradition of rigorous legal reasoning and analysis at Harvard Law School. The Class of 2021 joined that long tradition last week as they gathered in Cambridge with their fellow classmates for J.D. Orientation.

On Tuesday, Aug. 21, Harvard Law School’s Graduate Program officially welcomed the LL.M. Class of 2019 -- 188 students from 65 countries who will spend the upcoming academic year pursuing a Master of Laws degree -- along with six students set to begin their studies for the Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree.

Members of Harvard Law School’s S.J.D. community gathered on campus for the 2018 S.J.D. Association Workshop, “Between Law and Justice: Ethics, Politics, and the State,” on May 17. The Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) is Harvard Law School’s most advanced law degree, designed principally for aspiring legal academics who wish to pursue sustained independent study, research, and writing.

On Thursday, May 25, the Harvard Law School Class of 2018 received their diplomas at a ceremony on Holmes Field, and celebrated their graduation with family, friends, and picture-perfect New England weather.

On Aug. 28, a student delegation from the Harvard Association of Law and Business (HALB) embarked on a week-long trip through Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Beijing, China, on the first-ever HALB China Trek, organized to expose students to the unique lessons from the rapid development of China's global economy.

Legal scholars from across the globe gathered at HLS in July for a two-day conference on law and development, the latest iteration of a series of conferences held periodically by a loose consortium of schools including Harvard Law School, the University of Geneva, Renmin University of China, and the University of Sydney, Australia.

Klemen Jaklič LL.M. ’00 S.J.D. ’11 has been elected judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia by the Slovenian parliament after being nominated by the president of Slovenia earlier this spring. His nine-year term officially started on March 27.

More than 60 Harvard Law students and 27 HLS faculty members took over the typically quiet tables of the library reading room for the first “Notes and Comment” event.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus ’75 returned to the Harvard Law School campus on Feb. 8 for a question-and-answer session moderated by HLS Professor William Alford ’77, vice dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies.

A judicial temperament involves many qualities. For Merrick Garland, patience is one of them.

Thirteen Harvard Law School students were selected as the 2016 Cravath International Fellows. The fellows traveled to 12 countries for winter term clinical placements or independent research with an international, transnational, or comparative law focus. Below, four of those students are highlighted.

President of the European Court of Justice Koen Lenaerts LL.M. ’78 keeps a photo engraving of Austin Hall in his home office in Leuven, Belgium. The image reminds him of the course he took from then HLS Professor Stephen Breyer ’64 (a 2L named John G. Roberts was also in the class), his LL.M. thesis with Duncan Kennedy, and hours spent perusing newspapers from around the world at Out of Town News in the Square. HLS is also now the alma mater of one of his six daughters.

Merrick Garland ’77—President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court—has been very much involved in the life of Harvard Law School since receiving his degree from HLS nearly four decades ago. Dean Martha Minow described as “an outstanding, meticulous, and thoughtful judge with a superb career of public service.”

Supreme Court justices, performance art, student protests and a vice president. A look back at 2015, highlights of the people who visited, events that took place and everyday life at Harvard Law School.

The Harvard Law School Association presented its highest award this past spring to William P. Alford ’77 and Charles J. Ogletree ’78 —two of Harvard Law School's most distinguished professors, mentors to generations of jurists, advisers to senators, presidents and world leaders, and celebrated doers of good works—and longtime friends.

This past May, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow joined HLSA President Salvo Arena LL.M. ’00 and more than 200 other alumni at a celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Harvard Law School Association of Europe, held at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée in Paris.