Alberto R. Coll is the Vincent de Paul Professor of Law and United States Foreign Relations at DePaul University College of Law, where he also serves as Director of Global Engagement and the LLM Program in International Law. Before joining DePaul, Dr. Coll served for five years as Dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies, the U.S. Navy's foremost strategic research center. Under his leadership the Center strengthened its focus on the Asia-Pacific region, becoming the Navy's preeminent center for the study of Chinese naval power.
From 1990 to 1993, Dr. Coll was principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, a three-star military equivalent in the Pentagon office overseeing the U.S. Defense Department's policy, strategy, and $3 billion budget for special operations forces and low-intensity conflict, including counterterrorism. For his work, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. In 1982, Dr. Coll joined the faculty at Georgetown University, and in 1986 was appointed Secretary of the Navy Senior Research Fellow at the Naval War College. In 1989, he became the youngest holder of the Charles H. Stockton Chair of International Law, the college's oldest chair.
Dr. Coll is the author of The Wisdom of Statecraft, editor of several books on international relations and law, and author of numerous book chapters and journal articles on international politics, law and strategy, including prize-winning articles in the American Journal of International Law and the Naval War College Review, as well as articles in Foreign Policy, Washington Quarterly, Harvard Journal of International Law, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and the UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. Dr. Coll is a frequent commentator on American foreign policy in international media, including Spanish National Radio and TV Polonia. Over the past thirty-five years, he has lectured at more than 120 universities, think tanks, government agencies, and public fora in the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and South Africa.
In 2004, Dr. Coll received the Antonio Jose Irisarri Medal for his contribution to strengthening the rule of law and civilian control over the military in Guatemala. He has served as consultant to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, the Rand Corporation, the U.S. Information Agency, and numerous defense and intelligence organizations. Dr. Coll is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Virginia Bar, the Naval War College Foundation, the Asociación Atlántica Española, and the Real Liga Naval Española. He earned his Ph. D in government and foreign affairs and J.D. degree from the University of Virginia and graduated cum laude from Princeton University in history. He was born and raised in Cuba, and at the age of 13 came to the United States as a refugee without his family, not knowing a word of English.
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