Harold Hongju Koh

Harold Koh
고홍주
Koh in 2010
22nd Legal Adviser of the Department of State
In office
June 25, 2009  January 22, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byJohn B. Bellinger III
Succeeded byBrian Egan
15th Dean of Yale Law School
In office
July 1, 2004  March 23, 2009
Preceded byAnthony T. Kronman
Succeeded byKate Stith (acting)
7th Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
In office
November 13, 1998  January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJohn Shattuck
Succeeded byLorne Craner
Personal details
Born (1954-12-08) December 8, 1954
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMary-Christy Fisher
RelationsHoward Koh (brother)
Daniel Koh (nephew)
Children2
EducationHarvard University (BA, JD)
Magdalen College, Oxford (MA)
AwardsMarshall Scholarship (1977)
American Philosophical Society (2007)
Sterling Professor (2013)
Korean name
Hangul
고홍주
Hanja
高洪株
RRGo Hongju
MRKo Hongju

Harold Hongju Koh (born December 8, 1954) is an American diplomat, lawyer, legal scholar, politician, and writer. Except for his periods of government service, he has taught at Yale Law School from 1985 to the present, including as the law school's 15th Dean from 2004 to 2009, and currently as a Sterling Professor of international law. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under President Bill Clinton. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the legal adviser of the Department of State in the Obama administration. He has published more then ten books on topics including international law, the U.S. Constitution, and international relations. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2007.