Sean D. Murphy

Professor Murphy is the Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he has taught international law and U.S. foreign relations law since 1998. Having received law degrees from Columbia and Cambridge Universities, he began his career as a lawyer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked on matters relating to oceans, environment, dispute resolution, and the law of war. For three years, he served as the Legal Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, arguing cases before the International Court of Justice, including the Lockerbie case, the Oil Platforms case, and the Nuclear Weapons advisory opinion. As an academic, he has published widely in the field of international law, including his treatise on Principles of International Law and his books on Litigating War and on International Law relating to Islands. Since entering academia, Professor Murphy has served as counsel, arbitrator or as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. He is a former President of the American Society of International Law, a former member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law, and an associate member of L’Institut de Droit International.