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William Alford

  • Illustration of two rows of three people in suits, one person in the middle of the second row with a bowtie

    Faculty Books in Brief: Winter 2020

    January 7, 2020

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

  • On the Bookshelf: HLS Library Book Talks, Spring 2018 2

    On the Bookshelf: HLS Authors

    December 11, 2019

    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.

  • Bob Beamon

    Sports, Law and Life: Olympic long jump record holder Bob Beamon visits HLS

    October 4, 2019

    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.

  • Education of an Idealist

    September 25, 2019

    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."

  • Three students

    Welcoming new students

    August 23, 2019

    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.

  • Melissa Joy Reilly, Michelle Kwan, Bill Alford

    Celebrating Special Olympics

    April 10, 2019

    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.

  • Alford receives the Li Buyun Law Prize 2

    Alford receives the Li Buyun Law Prize

    March 5, 2019

    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.

  • Mr. Xi, release these two Canadian citizens

    January 22, 2019

    Dear President Xi Jinping, We, the undersigned scholars, former diplomats and others with an interest in understanding China and building bridges, are deeply concerned about the recent detentions of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. We request that you immediately release Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor so that they may be reunited with their families. Many of us know Michael Kovrig through his work as a diplomat in Beijing and as the senior expert for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, an organization whose mission is to “build a more peaceful world.” In both roles, Mr. Kovrig regularly and openly met with Chinese officials, researchers and scholars to better understand China’s positions on a range of important international issues. Michael Spavor has devoted his time to the task of building relationships between North Korea and China, Canada, the United States and elsewhere. ... ACADEMIC COMMUNITY Ako, Tomoko. Associate Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo; Alford, William P. Vice Dean, Graduate Program and International Legal Studies, and Director, East Asian Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School; Almén, Oscar. Research Fellow, Department of Government, Uppsala University ...

  • In

    In “Learning from the Past to Appreciate the Present,” Alford draws from Confucius and contemporary China

    December 19, 2018

    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.

  • Courts under political pressure

    A View from Europe: Courts under political pressure

    October 18, 2018

    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.”

  • Alford receives the Li Buyun Law Prize 3

    HPOD marks the 50th Anniversary of the Special Olympics

    September 14, 2018

    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.

  • Early Arrivals

    Early Arrivals

    August 24, 2018

    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.

  • Harvard’s S.J.D. community shares work in progress

    Harvard’s S.J.D. community shares work in progress

    July 19, 2018

    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.

  • Class Marshals hold HLS banner at Commencement

    Camera-ready: Harvard Law School Commencement 2018

    May 25, 2018

    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.

  • Strong, independent judiciaries critical to Africa’s development – Maraga

    March 26, 2018

    According to Justice Maraga, strong judiciaries acting as the custodian of constitutionalism were critical to Africa’s quest for sustainable development. In a keynote address he delivered at the 9th Annual African Development Conference at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the head of Kenya’s Judiciary said bad laws were impeding development in Africa...During his stay in Harvard, Justice Maraga presented Harvard Law School’s Vice Dean, Prof William Alford, a copy of the 2016-2017 State the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice Report, which enumerates some of the achievements in the justice sector in Kenya as well as challenges faced. The backlog of cases is a key challenge identified in the report which at the time of its release in December last year stood at 533,350 cases.

  • HALB China Trek - group with Xiqing Gao

    HALB China Trek offers students perspectives on global leadership

    September 21, 2017

    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.

  • Seeking Greater Global Power, China Looks to Robots and Microchips

    August 15, 2017

    In Chinese schools, students learn that the United States became a great nation partly by stealing technology from Britain. In the halls of government, officials speak of the need to inspire innovation by protecting inventions. In boardrooms, executives strategize about using infringement laws to fell foreign rivals. China is often portrayed as a land of fake gadgets and pirated software, where intellectual property like patents, trademarks and copyrights are routinely ignored. The reality is more complex...“There is an unmistakable national policy to boost the position of Chinese companies in cutting-edge areas,” said William P. Alford, a Harvard law professor and an expert on Chinese intellectual property laws.

  • Two advisory committees named

    August 15, 2017

    Harvard’s presidential search committee, comprising the 12 members of the University’s Corporation other than the president along with three members of the Board of Overseers, today announced the membership of the faculty and staff advisory committees for the search. The composition of a third advisory committee, consisting of students from across the University, will be announced later in the summer. The members of the faculty advisory committee are as follows...William Alford, Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law, vice dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies, director of the East Asian Legal Studies program, and chair of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability (Harvard Law School).

  • Mark Wu, Ruth Okediji and panelists

    HLS hosts conference on law and development

    August 10, 2017

    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 Jaklic in robe

    Klemen Jaklič elected Judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia

    May 11, 2017

    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.

  • Two women sitting at a table reading a paper

    Connecting beyond the classroom

    April 21, 2017

    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.