Former US ambassador joins ASU law faculty

portrait of Clint Williamson
October 10, 2014

Clint Williamson, who most recently served as a special prosecutor for the European Union, will be a professor of practice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. Williamson, an international law expert, will also serve as senior director for Law and National Security at the McCain Institute for International Leadership at ASU.

“I am delighted to be joining ASU and to be a part of what I believe is an exciting time in the life of the university and, particularly, of the law school,” Williamson said.

Williamson will be part of an international law program at the College of Law, which last year was ranked No. 18 in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

“We are thrilled to have Clint joining our faculty at the law school,” said Douglas Sylvester, dean of the College of Law. “Clint brings unsurpassed expertise and experience in the field and he will bring a valuable academic perspective for our students.”

In 2011, Williamson was appointed to serve as the European Union’s special prosecutor, examining allegations of war crimes in Kosovo. Previously, Williamson was the U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues. Williamson also served as special expert to the Secretary-General of the United Nations at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The tribunal was charged with prosecuting senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and others responsible for mass crimes committed in Cambodia during the 1970s.

“Clint is a world-renowned expert on war crimes investigations, and has vast experience at the crossroads where law and national security meet,” said Kurt Volker, executive director of the McCain Institute. “I am confident he is going to make a significant contribution to the Institute’s projects in the national security area.”

Earlier in his career, Williamson served as a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Section and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston and a law degree from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans.