December 10, 2009
Jonathan Eddy to head Asian Law Center
Jonathan Eddy has been appointed incoming director of the Asian Law Center by Dean Kellye Testy effective Jan. 1, 2010. Eddy, who has extensive experience in legal systems in transitional economies, is known internationally for his work on economic development, transitional legal systems and commercial law reform in Afghanistan, the Arabian Gulf, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, and China.
He succeeds Veronica Taylor, recently appointed as head of the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University. Taylor will continue to serve as an affiliate professor and senior advisor to the Asian Law Center. In the coming year, the law school will launch an extensive global search for the next long-term faculty director of the Center.
“Professor Eddy is an outstanding scholar, teacher, and administrator and, with his extensive in-country experience with Asian legal systems, he brings the right skill set to this important leadership role for the law school,” Dean Testy said in announcing the appointment. “He enjoys tremendous support from his faculty and staff colleagues in the Asian Law Center, and we all appreciate that he has stepped up for this service as we advance the Center to the next level of excellence.”
The Asian Law Center, known nationally and internationally for its outstanding teaching, research, and public policy work on Asia and developing economies, has rigorous master’s and doctoral programs in Asian and comparative law, rule of law and development. Program alumni are leaders in legal education, government, the judiciary, and private practice throughout Asia, developing countries, and the United States.
Eddy, who received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his law degree from the UW School of Law in 1969, joined the UW law school faculty in July 2005 as the project manager for the Afghan Legal Educators Project. The project, funded by the U.S. Department of State, is conducted in Kabul as well as Seattle and provides professional mentoring for Afghan law professors from Kabul University and leading provincial law schools in Afghanistan.
Eddy previously served as the resident legal advisor to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in Jakarta, Indonesia, where his principal responsibility was to support Indonesia’s new Financial Intelligence Unit and associated government efforts to combat money-laundering.
Eddy began his career teaching at Haile Selassie University Law School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was lecturer and assistant dean. He subsequently held tenured and visiting faculty positions at law schools in the United States and Asia, and practiced in Seattle for more than 20 years for clients involved in major transnational transactions. He is a member of the California, Washington, and Oregon State Bars, and has been selected for recognition by Best Lawyers in America.
