David Weissbrodt

Law School, 2005 - 2018

Professor Weissbrodt is considered one of the world's leading international human rights scholars, teachers, and advocates. He is the first U.S. citizen to chair an United Nations human rights body since Eleanor Roosevelt, with his chairmanship of the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. He is credited as a pioneer in the field, in particular in the development of human rights as an interdisciplinary field of study, bridging law and the social sciences, with his publications cited by scholars in health, history, international relations, political science, and sociology. Professor Weissbrodt is credited as founder of the world's largest and most comprehensive library of human rights materials (mainly laws), which is hosted at the University of Minnesota. This on-line library has elicited high praise and acclaim from scholars, institutions and countries worldwide as a singular contribution to the development and practice of human rights. Under Professor Weissbrodt's leadership, vision and mastery of the field, the library, and ultimately the University of Minnesota, has become a "Mecca" for human rights scholars, government officials, policy makers and students.