Inaugural Distinguished Lecture in International Law featuring Harold Hongju Koh

Friday, 07 February 2025 at 12:00 PM

Seattle University School of Law, in association with Elliott Bay Book Co., will host Professor Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School.

Professor Koh will deliver the inaugural Annual Distinguished Lecture in International Law titled, “Is Our President a National Security Threat?” The lecture draws upon Koh's recently published book, "The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century."

Koh has served in various human rights and international law positions in the U.S. government, most recently as a senior advisor to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and, before that, as the 22nd legal advisor to the U.S. Department of State under President Barack Obama. Seattle University President Eduardo Peñalver will introduce Koh. 

Date: Friday, Feb. 7, 2025
Lecture: 12 - 1 p.m. 
Location: C5, Sullivan Hall 

The Elliott Bay Book Company will have copies of Koh’s book available for purchase.

About Harold Hongju Koh

Harold Hongju Koh is Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School, where he also served as dean from 2004-2009. Professor Koh is one of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law, and human rights. He has served in numerous roles in the U.S. government under five administrations, including as U.S. assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton, as the 22nd legal advisor to the U.S. Department of State in the Obama administration, and as a senior advisor in the Office of the Legal Advisor to the U.S. Department of State in the Biden administration. He was the co-founder of the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic at Yale Law School, where he has represented victims of human rights abuses in U.S. federal courts and before various international tribunals. Most recentl,y he has represented Ukraine before the International Court of Justice in its claims against the Russian Federation. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including his most recent, "The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century" (2024). 

He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and served as a law clerk for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court and Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Sullivan Hall, Seattle University 901 12th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122