Macarena Sáez Appointed Director of the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law
An internationally recognized expert in the areas of human rights, gender discrimination, and
comparative family law, Sáez will begin her new role in September 2015.
Macarena Sáez, a fellow in the International Legal Studies Program, has been appointed director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law, effective Sept. 4, 2015.
The Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law provides scholarship and support for human rights initiatives in the United States and around the world. The Center works with students, academics and practitioners to enhance the understanding and implementation of human rights and humanitarian law domestically, regionally, and internationally.
“As the Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights, Macarena will bring tremendous experience and commitment to her new position,” said Dean Claudio Grossman. “She is a forward-thinking, innovative scholar and practitioner who will deepen the Center’s extensive student opportunities, worldwide networks, and impact.”
In addition to her current appointment, Sáez will continue to serve as faculty director of the Impact Litigation Project, the law school’s initiative to promote the rule of law and democracy around the world. Among other responsibilities there, she developed a course on strategic litigation in international human rights cases, supervised and drafted amicus briefs for international and national courts, and worked with partner institutions representing clients before the Inter-American system of human rights.
“I am honored to join the Center for Human Right and Humanitarian Law at this exciting time,” Sáez said. “As an academic and human rights practitioner, I look forward to the opportunity to find new ways to shape global conversations on emerging human rights issues and educate a new generation of dynamic advocates.”
Sáez joined American University Washington College of Law in 2003 and has been a full-time faculty member since 2010, teaching courses in the areas of family law, comparative law, and international human rights. She was one of the lead counsels in the first case on sexual orientation before the Inter-American system of human rights and one of two U.S. law professors who recently testified as expert witnesses for a case on marriage equality before the Constitutional Court of Colombia.
Sáez received a JD from University of Chile School of Law and an LL.M. from Yale Law School.