Jutta Brunnée appointed inaugural Newton Rowell Chair in Public International Law

Through the transformative Jackman gift to the Henry N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law, four new endowed chairs are being established in key areas of legal scholarship. Jutta Brunnée has been appointed the inaugural Newton Rowell Chair in Public International Law, the first of these new chairs.  

The chair supports leading scholarship focused on international institutions and the challenges and opportunities involved in sustaining a rules-based international order at a moment of significant global pressure and change.

An internationally recognized scholar in public international law who was appointed University Professor in 2020, Brunnée’s research spans international environmental law, climate governance, and the role of international institutions in addressing complex global challenges. Across her work, she examines how international law functions in practice — particularly during periods of geopolitical instability and times of heightened global pressure.

“We find ourselves in a moment where the international legal order is being challenged and subjected to a variety of pressures,” says Brunnée. “Yet, there are countless global issues that highlight our interdependence, from international peace and security all the way to environmental problems like climate change.”

Brunnée said the chair comes at a particularly meaningful moment in her own academic career as she concluded her term as dean and returns to full-time research and scholarship.

“I had a keen sense that this is a sort of ‘now or never’ moment for an international lawyer to contribute their knowledge and experience to the field,” she says. For Brunnée, many of today’s most urgent issues do require internationally coordinated responses, making the study of public international law especially important at this juncture.

Beginning this summer, Brunnée will spend a year on research leave, including at an interdisciplinary institute for advanced studies in Germany, where she plans to continue exploring what she describes as “international law in precarious times.”

Her research will focus on how international legal institutions and frameworks can be sustained and reinforced amid growing global polarization and shifting geopolitical realities. She will also continue her work on climate change and international environmental law, including the growing role international courts and tribunals are playing in clarifying states’ obligations related to the global environment.

“The question is not only how but also who can help sustain and further develop the international order at this moment,” she says.

In addition to advancing her own research, Brunnée says she hopes the chair will help strengthen international engagement and visibility, attracting graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and academic visitors to Jackman Law. She is also exploring how legal scholars can better communicate the importance of international law beyond academic and legal circles.

“As lawyers we tend to take the importance of law for granted,” she says. “But how do we communicate the role it plays to those around us who are not lawyers, and a wider public?”

For Brunnée, the appointment represents both an opportunity to deepen her research at a critical global moment and a chance to help shape broader conversations about the future of international law and international cooperation.

“It’s a wonderful platform from which to pursue this work,” she says. “And it means a great deal to me to be the inaugural Newton Rowell Chair holder.”

Jutta Brunnée’s five-year term begins on July 1, 2026.