The council, according to Refugees International, includes “many of America’s most distinguished former diplomats and national security officials, prominent international figures involved in human rights and humanitarian issues, and refugees and former refugees who are engaged in humanitarian policy issues.” The group was formed earlier this year to provide guidance and advice to the Refugees International staff and its board of directors.
“I am delighted that David Wippman has agreed to join the Refugees International Advisory Council,” said its president Eric Schwartz. “A world-renowned scholar of international law with extensive expertise in human rights and humanitarianism, David also comes to the Advisory Council with experience as a policy practitioner. Refugees International will benefit enormously from his wisdom and guidance and we are grateful to David for his willingness to serve.”
“I am honored to have been asked to join the council, and I look forward to working with its distinguished members,” Wippman said. “I hope my experience in international law and human rights, and Hamilton College’s close proximity to a major refugee resettlement area in Utica, N.Y., will help advance the council and its mission.”
Wippman became Hamilton’s 20th president on July 1, 2016. He is the former dean of the University of Minnesota Law School, where he had the lead role in establishing the Center for New Americans. He served as a director in the Office of Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council during 1998-99 and was vice provost for international relations at Cornell University from 2004 to 2008. He has written extensively about international law and is co-author, with Jane Stromseth and Rosa Brooks, of Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law in the Wake of Military Interventions.
About Refugees International
Refugees International advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises around the world. The organization does not accept any government or United Nations funding to ensure the independence and credibility of its work.
