President Barack Obama nominated Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh to the position of legal adviser to the Department of State.
Upon confirmation by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Koh said he would resign from his current position as dean. As legal adviser, Koh will be the principal counselor on legal matters to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Koh has served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from 1998 to 2001. He was also a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other international organizations while assistant secretary of state.
Kate Stith, Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law and former deputy dean of the Law School will serve as acting dean.
