Burns Weston: A Man of Service
21 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 621 (2013)
9 Pages Posted: 17 Oct 2019
Date Written: July 31, 2019
Abstract
This essay is a tribute to Burns H. Weston as part of the festschrift in his honor. Weston recruited me to the faculty at the University of Iowa College of Law and has served as an important mentor and friend. This tribute honors Weston’s extensive scholarship, strong spirit, and commitment to teaching, but especially his dedication to service. That service involved law school service, from building the international and comparative law program at Iowa Law to spearheading the creation of the student-edited journal Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems, and university service, including founding the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights. It also included service outside of the university, including serving as Senior Fellow and Director of the Transnational Academic Program of the Institute for World Order in New York City during 1976-78, service on organization boards, and human rights fact-finding and conflict mitigation missions to Cuba, the West Bank and Gaza, Kosovo, and the Republic of Georgia. Weston was also part of the human rights delegation that in 1985 accompanied Kim Dae-jung on his return to Seoul from forced exile in the United States. This tribute concludes that Weston has lived up to his own admonishment: “Be ashamed to die until you have given of yourself to humanity.”
Keywords: international law, human rights, Burns Weston
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