José Enrique Alvarez

José E. Alvarez immigrated to the United States from Cuba at the age of 6. After degrees at Harvard College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School, he joined the US State Department as an attorney-adviser. He started teaching law full time in 1989 at George Washington and thereafter Michigan and Columbia law schools. He is now the Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law at New York University Law School and the faculty director for its US-Asia Law Institute.

A former President of the American Society of International Law and co-editor-in-chief of the American Journal of International Law, Prof. Alvarez is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Institut de Droit International. His 6 books and more than 140 other publications address diverse aspects of international law, including international criminal law, human rights, international trade and investment, as well as the roles of international organizations and courts. Most recently, he has been arguing for reparations for the ‘color of COVID’ and drawing lessons for how best to reform the global health regime in light of its evident failures. None of this would have been possible without the endless patience of his loving spouse for more than 33 years, Susan Damplo.