Thomas

Chantal Thomas, a Cornell Law School professor with expertise in the Middle East, northern Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, has been appointed director of the school's newly renamed Clarke Initiative for Law and Development in the Middle East (formerly known as the Clarke Middle East Fund).

Thomas was a law dean at the American University in Cairo, 2007-08, and she said she expects to leverage that experience in her new role.

Thomas' research focuses on the relationship among international law, political economy and social justice; international trade and economic development; and comparative development law. Previously she also held law professor positions at the University of Minnesota and Fordham Law School.

"Chantal's serious commitment to [the Middle East] and her desire to deepen the relationship between Cornell and legal scholars in the Middle East acknowledges the growing need for transnational legal understanding in this period of rapid globalization," said John J. Barceló III, the Reich Director of the Berger International Legal Studies Program and the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International and Comparative Law at Cornell Law School.

The Clarke Initiative supports conferences, professional travel, visiting and adjunct faculty members who teach courses related to the Middle East, student scholarships, library materials dedicated to the Middle East and the Clarke Middle East Speaker Series, which brings speakers to address current legal and policy issues facing the region.