Muna B. Ndulo

Muna Ndulo is a scholar of constitution making, governance and institution building, African legal systems, international criminal law, human rights and international law and foreign direct investments, currently the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International and Comparative Law at Cornell Law School and the Elizabeth and Arthur Reich Director, Berger International Legal Studies Program, Cornell Law School. Trained at the University of Zambia, Harvard and Oxford, he served as Professor of Law and Dean of the School of Law, University of Zambia and Director of the Law Practice Institute under the Council of Legal Education in Zambia. He is also affiliated with the University of Cape Town, Free State University and West Cape University in South Africa.

Ndulo has also brought his legal thinking of law and human rights into practice. He has served as an arbitrator under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and International Center for the Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID), Legal Officer in the International Trade Law Branch of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Chief Political and Legal Adviser with the United Nations Mission Observer in South Africa (UNOMSA), to the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to South Africa, and Legal Advisor to the United Nations Mission to East Timor (UNAMET), ,Legal Expert to the United Nations Mission to Kosovo(UNAMIK) & United Nations Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). Member of the of the United Nations Secretary General’s Civil Society Advisory Board on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Peace Keeping Missions. He has advised the African Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), National Democratic Institute (NDI), United Nations Institute for Peace (USIP), and International Development Law Organization (IDLO). Additionally he was a consultant to the constitution-making processes in Kenya, Somalia, and Zimbabwe.

At Cornell Law School, he has taught many courses, including International Human Rights, International Law and Foreign Direct Investment, International Criminal law and Law and Social Change: Comparative Law in Africa. Amongst his numerous publications are: Civil Liberties Cases in Zambia (Oxford, 1984), Comparative Constitutionalism and Good Governance in the Commonwealth: An Eastern and Southern African Perspective (Cambridge, 2004), Democratic Reform in Africa: Taking Stock of Its Impact on Governance and Poverty Alleviation (Ohio, 2006), Security, Reconstruction and Reconciliation: When the Wars End (London, 2007), Failed and Failing States: The Challenges to African Reconstruction (New Castle, 2010), and Growing Democracy in Africa: Elections, Accountable Governance, and Political Economy (New Castle, 2016).

He is a recipient of several academic awards including: Distinguished Africanist Award (New York African Studies Association, 2012); Award for Excellence in the Teaching, Advising and Mentoring of Graduate and Professional Students (Cornell University, 2012), the Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Global Excellence and Stature (University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 2018), and the Anne Lukingbeal Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession (Cornell, 2021).