Michael Scharf

professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Michael Scharf is the John Deaver Drinko - Baker & Hostetler Professor of Law, and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center, at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In February 2005, Scharf and the Public International Law and Policy Group, a Non-Governmental Organization he co-founded and directs, were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by six governments and the Prosecutor of an International Criminal Tribunal for the work they have done to help in the prosecution of major war criminals, such as Slobodan Milosevic, Charles Taylor, and Saddam Hussein. During the first Bush and Clinton Administrations, Scharf served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, where he held the positions of Attorney-Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence, Attorney-Adviser for United Nations Affairs, and delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1993, he was awarded the State Department's Meritorious Honor Award "in recognition of superb performance and exemplary leadership" in relation to his role in the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. A graduate of Duke University School of Law (Order of the Coif and High Honors), and judicial clerk to Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat on the Eleventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, Scharf is the author of over seventy scholarly articles and thirteen books, including Balkan Justice, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was awarded the American Society of International Law's Certificate of Merit for the Outstanding book in International Law in 1999, Peace with Justice, which won the International Association of Penal Law Book of the Year Award for 2003, and Enemy of the State, which won the International Association of Penal Law Book of the Year Award for 2009. Scharf's most recent book is Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Scharf has also testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Armed Services Committee; and his Op Eds have been published by the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and International Herald Tribune. Recipient of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Alumni Association's 2005 "Distinguished Teacher Award" and Ohio Magazine's 2007 "Excellence in Education Award," Scharf teaches International Law, International Criminal Law, the Law of International Organizations, and the War Crimes Research Lab which provides research assistance to five international tribunals.