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William P. Alford (Chinese name: 安守廉; ''An Shoulian'') (born 1948) is a United States legal scholar. He is currently Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at
"Ms. Shen Marries William Alford"
''The New York Times'', August 26, 1991. Professor Alford and his family live in
''To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization''
Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1995. * Alford, William P., (editor), ''Raising the bar : the emerging legal profession in East Asia'', Cambridge, Mass. : East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 2006.
"Clean Air, Clean Processes? The Struggle Over Air Pollution Law in the People's Republic of China
" 52 Hastings Law Journal 703 (2001). * Alford, William P., "Exporting the 'Pursuit of Happiness'," 113 Harvard Law Review 1677 (2000) * Alford, William P.
"Have You Eaten, Have You Divorced? Debating the Meaning of Freedom in Marriage in China"
in Realms of Freedom in Modern China (William C. Kirby ed., Stanford University Press, 2004). * Alford, William P., "Of Lawyers Lost and Found: Searching for Legal Professionalism in the People's Republic of China" in Raising the Bar: The Emerging Legal Profession in East Asia (East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 2007).
Profile at Harvard Law School
Special Section: Asian Journeys Why China?
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, William P. Amherst College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty American sinologists Scholars of Chinese law 1948 births Living people
William P. Alford (Chinese name: 安守廉; ''An Shoulian'') (born 1948) is a United States legal scholar. He is currently Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
(Massachusetts, USA). He is Director of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law, and is regarded as an expert in the field of Chinese law.
He is an honorary professor of Renmin University
The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government.
RUC ...
, Zhejiang University and the China National School of Administration, and an Honorary Fellow of the American Studies Institute of the Department of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He directed the China Center for American Law Study, the first academic program in U.S. law in the PRC, was a founder in 1982 of the U.S. Committee on Legal Education Exchange with China, is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships for his work on China, and is on a host of advisory and editorial boards.
Biography
Alford received hisB.A. degree
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate education, undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally complet ...
from Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
in 1970, LL.B
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree from the University of Cambridge in 1972. He received M.A.s in Chinese Studies and Chinese History
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
from Yale University in 1974 and 1975, respectively, and a J.D from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1977.
He has been involved for decades in China's legal reform. Almost 25 years ago, with Professor Randle Edwards, then of Columbia, he founded the first academic program in the PRC on American law and the first national exchange program to bring Chinese students to the U.S. for legal education—including many who are in the forefront of legal change in China today. In the years since, he has been called on by both the US government and China's—as well as multilateral organizations, foundations, civic groups and NGOs, law firms and businesses—to offer advice on a range of issues from trade to human rights to intellectual property to the legal profession and legal education and beyond. In recent years, he has focused on the pro bono work with the Special Olympics in issues of disability in China.
Personal life
Professor Alford is married to Dr. Yuanyuan Shen, a lawyer, and an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center for the East Asian Research of Harvard University since 1991. She is a graduate of People's University of China (now Renmin University of China) in Beijing, Harvard Law School, and the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.). Her father wasShen Zulun
Shen Zulun ( Chinese: 沈祖伦; March 1931 – 27 February 2023) was a Chinese politician who served as Governor of Zhejiang Province.
Biography
A native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, Shen joined the Communist Party of China in April 1948. Before th ...
, a governor of Zhejiang Province
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...
in China.''The New York Times'', August 26, 1991. Professor Alford and his family live in
Belmont, Massachusetts
Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295 ...
.
Selected publications
Books
* Alford, William P., ''The Changing international legal order : a Chinese perspective'', Los Angeles, Calif. : Academic Pub. Service, 1984 * Alford, William P''To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization''
Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1995. * Alford, William P., (editor), ''Raising the bar : the emerging legal profession in East Asia'', Cambridge, Mass. : East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 2006.
Articles
* Alford, William P.; Liebman, Benjamin"Clean Air, Clean Processes? The Struggle Over Air Pollution Law in the People's Republic of China
" 52 Hastings Law Journal 703 (2001). * Alford, William P., "Exporting the 'Pursuit of Happiness'," 113 Harvard Law Review 1677 (2000) * Alford, William P.
"Have You Eaten, Have You Divorced? Debating the Meaning of Freedom in Marriage in China"
in Realms of Freedom in Modern China (William C. Kirby ed., Stanford University Press, 2004). * Alford, William P., "Of Lawyers Lost and Found: Searching for Legal Professionalism in the People's Republic of China" in Raising the Bar: The Emerging Legal Profession in East Asia (East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 2007).
See also
*J. Mark Ramseyer
John Mark Ramseyer (born 1954) is the Mitsubishi professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School. He is the author of over 10 books and 50 articles in scholarly journals. He is co-author of one of the leading corporations casebooks, Klei ...
: Professor of Japanese legal studies at HLS; member of East Asian Legal Studies advisory committee
* Jerome A. Cohen
Jerome Alan Cohen (born July 1, 1930) is a professor of law at New York University School of Law, an expert in Chinese law, a senior fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves as "of counsel" at the international law f ...
: New York University scholar (emeritus) of Chinese law
* Donald C. Clarke
Donald C. Clarke is a law professor specializing in Chinese law at The George Washington University Law School. His interests range from Chinese criminal law and procedure to corporate governance. His Chinese name is Guo Danqing (郭丹青).
Cl ...
: George Washington University Law School expert on Chinese law
* Nicholas C. Howson: U.S. scholar of Chinese law at University of Michigan Law School
* Derk Bodde (1909–2003): U.S. sinologist
Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
and scholar of pre-modern Chinese law and society
* William C. Jones: former U.S. scholar of pre-modern Chinese law
* Institutes studying Chinese Law
References
External links
Profile at Harvard Law School
Special Section: Asian Journeys Why China?
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, William P. Amherst College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty American sinologists Scholars of Chinese law 1948 births Living people