Thomas Buergenthal † (President 2015–2016, Honorary President 2016–2023)
Former Judge at the International Court of Justice and former President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Biography
Thomas Buergenthal served as judge on the International Court of Justice from 2000 to 2010. He was the Lobingier Professor Emeritus of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.
He was Judge and President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as a member of the U.N. Truth Commission for El Salvador and the U.N. Human Rights Committee.
Buergenthal was one of the youngest survivors of the Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. He was liberated from Sachsenhausen one month prior to his 11th birthday. Professor Buergenthal came to the United States at the age of 17.
He received his J.D. degree from New York University Law School and his LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees from the Harvard Law School. He was the author or co-author of more than a dozen books. His memoir, "A Lucky Child" has become a worldwide bestseller.