Willamette University College of Law Professor Symeon Symeonides returned from The Hague, where he taught the general course in private international law at The Hague Academy of International Law. This is the highest international distinction in the field. Since the Academy’s founding in 1923, only five other Americans have received this honor.
| Year | Professor | Affiliated institution |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Willis Reese | Columbia Law School |
| 1985 | Friedrich Juenger | University of California, Davis |
| 2002 | Arthur von Mehren | Harvard Law School |
| 2010 | Peter Trooboff | Covington & Burling |
| 2014 | George Berman | Columbia Law School |
| 2016 | Symeon Symeonides | Willamette University College of Law |
Since 1923, only six Americans have taught the general course at The Hague Academy of International Law.
Housed in the Peace Palace, together with the International Court of Justice, the Academy is the preeminent center of research and teaching in private and public international law. Every year, the Curatorium of the Academy evaluates scholars from all over the world and invites one to teach the general course and six to teach smaller special courses.
The invitation to teach the general course is extended to the internationally recognized leaders of the field and carries the obligation to produce an original book with the author’s views on the current state and future direction of the discipline. Symeonides’ book is titled Private International Law: Idealism, Pragmatism, Eclecticism.
About Symeon C. Symeonides
Symeon C. Symeonides is the Alex L. Parks distinguished professor of law and dean emeritus at Willamette University College of Law, where he teaches conflict of laws and international litigation and arbitration. His publications have been translated into six foreign languages and cited by the supreme courts of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. He is the recipient of four scholarly prizes and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Symeonides has drafted legislation for three states and the European Union and provided legislative advice to four foreign governments. He is president of the International Association of Legal Science and former president of the American Society of Comparative Law.
About Willamette University College of Law
Opened in 1883, Willamette University College of Law is the first law school in the Pacific Northwest. The college has a long tradition at the forefront of legal education and is committed to the advancement of knowledge through excellent teaching, scholarship, mentoring and experience. Leading faculty, thriving externship and clinical law programs, ample practical skills courses, and a proactive career placement office prepare Willamette law students for today's legal job market. According to statistics compiled by the American Bar Association, Willamette ranks first in the Pacific Northwest for job placement for full-time, long-term, JD-preferred/JD-required jobs for the class of 2014 and first in Oregon for the classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Located across the street from the state capitol complex and the Oregon Supreme Court in downtown Salem, the college specializes in law and government, law and business, and dispute resolution.