Eric Rosenthal
Adjunct Professor
WCL Adjunct Faculty
Bio
Degrees: LL.D (hon), Georgetown University Law Center (2016) JD, Georgetown University Law Center (1992) BA, University of Chicago (1985)
Eric Rosenthal is founder and Executive Director of Disability Rights International (DRI), one of the first and leading advocacy organizations dedicated to the protection and full inclusion of children and adults with disabilities under international human rights law. Rosenthal has trained activists and investigated human rights violations in more than three dozen countries – bringing world attention to the concerns of people segregated from society in orphanages, psychiatric facilities, and other institutions. Rosenthal’s work has been profiled in The New York Times Magazine and DRI’s reports and media campaigns have been featured on press and media worldwide. He has published op-eds in The Washington Post and The Chicago Tribune. He has served as a consultant and expert for UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Disability, and he helped draft the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the UN Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies. On behalf of DRI, Rosenthal has led groundbreaking litigation through the inter-American system of human rights, leading to the closure of abusive psychiatric institutions, reparations for thousands of individuals with disabilities subject to abuse, and (pending) decisions on the right to live in the community with choices equal to others, access to justice, and protections against torture and sexual violence. Rosenthal has published extensively on the international human rights of people with disabilities and the rights of children. Rosenthal received the Charles Bronfman Prize in 2013 and has been recognized for “pioneering the field of international human rights advocacy for people with disabilities and bringing unprecedented international awareness to their concerns” by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Eric Rosenthal was the 2015-2016 Drinan Chair in Human Rights at the Georgetown University Law Center and was awarded a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by Georgetown University in 2016. Rosenthal has taught classes on international disability rights, global protection of people with disabilities, and the rights of vulnerable persons at the Washington College of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center.
