Founded in 2007, the Harris Institute Ambassadors Program brings foreign service professionals to the law school to share their experiences and knowledge with the law school and university community. The Program draws current and retired professionals from the international diplomatic corps to provide students with a first-hand description of international law and policy in action.

Past Ambassadors-in-Residence

  • 2019 - Ambassador Carlos Wahnon Veiga

    Carlos Alberto Wahnon de Carvalho Veiga took over as Cape Verde’s ambassador to the United States in 2016.  Ambassador Viego is a well-respected and experienced lawyer who has over 40 years’ experience in public service, both as a magistrate and senior public administration official. His specific areas of expertise include the definition and implementation of global and sectorial public policies, institutional and economic reforms, leadership of professional bodies, legal advice to public and private sector entities, attorney, international arbitration, lecturing on matters of administrative and international law, as well as on the field of legislation drafting. In addition to his experience as a former Attorney General, Veiga has extensive Government and parliamentary experience, having held the high post of Prime Minister from 1991 to 2000 and having been elected Member of Parliament in 1985, 1991, 1995 and 2011).

  • 2014 - Ambassador David Scheffer

    Ambassador David Scheffer is the first US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues.  He is currently the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law and the Director of the Center for International Human Rights. He also serves as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Expert on United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials. During his visit, he discussed his book, All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals.

     

  • 2012 - Ambassador Louis Susman

    H.E. Ambassador Louis Susman served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Obama. He has extensive experience as a banker and lawyer and has long been active in the public sector.  During his visit, he delivered a lecture, “The Enduring Value of the Rule of Law,” as part of the Harris Institute Speaker Series which made the case for America’s strong rule of law.

  • 2009 Ambassadors-in-Residence

    2009 – Stephen J. Rapp

    Stephen J. Rapp of Iowa served as US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice from 2009 to 2015.  During his visit, he delivered a lecture on the demands for accountability in international justice.

    2009 – Ambassador Charles Stith

    Ambassador Charles Stith is the Director of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University. During his visit, he discussed US-Africa relations in the Obama era.

    2009 – Ambassador Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi

    Ambassador Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, New York from 2004-2007.  During his visit, he delivered a lecture on trying Iraq’s former political leadership.

  • 2008 Ambassadors-in-Residence

    2008 – Thomas A. Schweich

    Thomas A. Schweich, the State Department’s coordinator for counter-narcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan, joined the law school in the summer of 2008 as an Ambassador-in-Residence. He also served as the government’s principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

    2008 – Carla A. Hills

    Ambassador Carla A. Hills, former United States Trade Representative, delivered the 2007-08 Tyrrell Williams Lecture on “Trade and the 2008 Elections.”  Ambassador Hills is currently chair and chief executive officer of Hills & Company, International Consultants, which advises companies on global trade and investment issues. She served as United States Trade Representative (1989-93) in the first Bush Administration. A member of President Bush’s cabinet, Ambassador Hills was the President’s principal adviser on international trade policy.