William Burke-White ’02, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, has accepted a two-year assignment in the Office of Foreign Policy Planning, an internal think tank at the State Department. He will focus on long-range policy issues concerning Russia and international law.
A specialist in international criminal law, international financial law and human rights, he is currently researching the emerging power of Russia and China in the energy field.
Burke-White has been an adviser to foreign governments in international legal and investment disputes and on the creation of international criminal accountability mechanisms. He also worked with Cambodia and the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor, and served as special rapporteur/adviser to Rwanda in drafting its new constitution. In his new position, he will report to Anne-Marie Slaughter ’85, the director of the Office of Foreign Policy Planning.
He has been a visiting scholar at the International Criminal Court; at Moscow State Institute of International Relations; and at Max Plank Institute of Public International Law in Heidelberg, Germany; and he served as a legal assistant at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
In 2008, Burke-White was awarded a research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and received the A. Leo Levin Award for excellence in teaching an introductory course. In 2007, he received the Robert A. Gorman Award for Excellence in Teaching.
A frequent commentator on issues of international law and international relations, he has published numerous articles and is a regular guest on various public radio stations.
In addition to his J.D., he received an A.B. from Harvard in 1998, and an M.Phil. in 1999 and Ph.D. in 2006 in International Relations from Cambridge.