Justice Richard J. Goldstone is the first scholar-in-residence at the new Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice, at City University of New York (CUNY) Law School, beginning fall 2014. Previously he was a visiting professor at NYU Law School, Fordham Law School and Harvard Law School. He has been a visiting professor at the School of Law and the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. Prior to his move to academia, Justice Goldstone served as a justice in South Africa's highest courts. In 1980, he began his first judgeship at the Transvaal Supreme Court, where he remained until his 1989 appointment to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. From 1994 to 2003, he served as a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was a member of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Program.
Justice Goldstone's pursuit of justice continued outside the courtroom. A committed human rights activist, he served as the chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation (the Goldstone Commission) from 1991 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, he served as the chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In 1999, he assumed the chairmanship of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo and he was appointed as the co-chairman of the International Task Force on Terrorism established by the International Bar Association. Due to his extensive experience and expertise, Justice Goldstone has served as an international advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In recognition of his commitment to human rights, Justice Goldstone is the recipient of a plethora of local and international awards, including the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association (1994). In October 2005 he was awarded the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights jointly with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour. He holds Honorary Doctorate of Law degrees from 17 internationally renowned universities and is a fellow of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs of Harvard University. He is a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
