Professor Nicholas A. Robinson - President and Chairman
Professor Nicholas A. Robinson is the Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University – environmental law programs he founded in 1978. He is one of the most widely recognized pioneers of modern environmental law in the United States and globally, having begun developing environmental law in 1969.
Professor Robinson served under five United States Presidents on environmental law negotiations under the USA-USSR Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection from 1974 to 1992. He participated in the landmark 1972 Stockholm, 1992 Rio de Janeiro, and 2002 Johannesburg United Nations environmental conferences, as well as the UN General Assembly debates that led to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.
As chair of the Commission on Environmental Law of the International Union for Conservation of Nature from 1996 to 2004, Professor Robinson founded the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, whose membership now encompasses 202 institutional members in 60 countries. He is Chair Emeritus of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and is the former Executive Governor of the International Council of Environmental Law.
Professor Robinson is a prolific legal scholar with hundreds of publications on conservation, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, and international environmental law. Two awards have been created in his honor: the Nicholas Robinson Award for Distinguished Environmental Achievement (Pace Law, 2005) and the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law (IUCN, 2021).
Education: BA, Brown University | JD, Columbia University School of Law