Educated in Melbourne, Beijing, Amsterdam, and Oxford, Professor Simon Chesterman has held academic appointments at leading institutions worldwide, including the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Southampton, Columbia, and Sciences Po. From 2006 to 2011, he served as Global Professor and Director of the New York University School of Law Singapore Programme. He subsequently served as Dean of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law from 2012 to 2022.
Before joining New York University, Chesterman worked in international policy and diplomacy, including as a Senior Associate at the International Peace Academy and as Director of UN Relations at the International Crisis Group in New York. Earlier in his career, he served with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the former Yugoslavia and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Chesterman is the author or editor of more than twenty books. His major works include We, the Robots?: Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law, The Law and Practice of the United Nations, One Nation Under Surveillance, You, the People, and Just War or Just Peace?.
A leading authority on international law, Chesterman’s scholarship has helped shape emerging fields of research on public authority in global governance. His work spans state-building and post-conflict reconstruction, the evolving role of intelligence agencies, and the legal implications of artificial intelligence and big data. He also writes on legal education and higher education more broadly.
In addition to his academic work, Chesterman is a novelist. He is the author of the Raising Arcadia trilogy of young adult mysteries, as well as the standalone novels I, Huckleberry and Artifice.
