Beth Van Schaack is an American attorney and academic who serves as the

United States ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice The United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice is the head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the United States Department of State. The ambassador-at-large advises the United States Secretary of State and the Under S ...

Early life and education

Van Schaack obtained a

bachelor of arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Stanford University, a

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

from

Leiden Law School Leiden Law School is the law school, and one of the seven faculties, of Leiden University. Teaching and research in the school take place across campuses in Leiden and The Hague in the Netherlands. Instruction in law began with the university's ...

at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...

Career

Van Schaack was a visiting professor in human rights at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

, teaching in areas relating to international law and human rights. She has been the acting director of the human rights and conflict resolution clinic. She is a fellow with Stanford’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice. She was also a visiting professor at

Santa Clara University School of Law The Santa Clara University School of Law (Santa Clara Law) is the law school of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States, in the Silicon Valley region. The School of Law was founded in 1911. The Jesuit ...

focusing on laws of war. As an attorney, she was an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP, as well as working with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and Rwanda.

US State Department

She served as deputy to the ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice at the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

. She helped advise the secretary of state and the

under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights The Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights is a position within the U.S. Department of State that leads the State Department's efforts to prevent and counter threats to civilian security. The Under Secretary oversees ...

on the formation of U.S. policy aimed at curbing mass atrocities and genocide.

Ambassador at Large

On October 21, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Van Schaack to be the ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice. Hearings on her nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid ...

on January 12, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on March 8, 2022. Van Schaack was confirmed by the full Senate via

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding v ...

on March 15, 2022, and she was sworn in on March 17.

Publications

*''Imagining Justice for Syria''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Schaack, Beth Living people 21st-century American diplomats American lawyers American academics American writers United States Department of State officials Yale Law School alumni Stanford University alumni Leiden University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) People associated with Morrison & Foerster American women lawyers Biden administration personnel