Date: 06/07/2006

James Thuo Gathii, Professor of Law, was named Albany Law School's Governor George E. Pataki Professor of International Commercial Law.

Gathii is an expert in international economic and trade law and third world approaches to international law. Prof. Gathii has published over 40 articles and book chapters and is ranked among the Top 350 Law Authors based on total new downloads on the Social Science Research Network. His research interests in international law and issues of good governance and legal reform as they relate to the third world and sub-Saharan Africa in particular have brought him international recognition.

"As our international law program continues to grow, the appointment of Professor Gathii to the Governor George E. Pataki Professor of International Commercial Law widens further the breadth of expertise among Albany Law's faculty," said President and Dean Thomas F. Guernsey.

Professor Gathii has presented his research at over a dozen law schools, including at Harvard, Cornell, UC Davis and the University of North Carolina. He has also been invited to lecture around the world including in the U.K., Italy, Canada, Kenya, Finland and Holland. His current research focuses on the social and public policy issues relating to developing country participation in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization, (WTO), negotiations with a particular interest in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Gathii received his LL.B. from the University of Nairobi and his LL.M. and S.J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the International Law Association's Study Committee on the Meaning of War. Before joining Albany Law School in 2001, Gathii taught at the Rutgers Business School. He was also a Crowe and Dunlevy Visiting International Law Professor at the University of Oklahoma's College of Law. 

The Governor George E. Pataki Professorship in International Commercial Law was established by philanthropist Morris "Marty" Silverman in 2002 to support the teaching, scholarship, and community leadership of faculty members who are in the forefront of changes in international law and legal practice.