Iraqi Ambassador to U.N. will teach at IU law school in fall

The IU School of Law already has an impressive faculty lineup. \nFrom former law clerks for U.S. Supreme Court justices to nationally recognized experts on cybersecurity and international securities law, students learn from distinguished professors with a wide range of experience.\nBut a new addition to the faculty this fall will bring Bloomington a lawyer with a truly unique background. \nStarting in August, Feisal Istrabadi, the principal drafter of the Iraqi interim constitution and currently the deputy Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, will teach classes and conduct research at IU.\n“We have people on our faculty who are working closely with other governments on constitutional issues, but I don’t think any faculty in this country has anybody like Ambassador Istrabadi,” said Law School Dean Lauren Robel.\nIstrabadi will work primarily at the Law School, teaching classes on transitional justice in Iraq and the trials of top members of Saddam Hussein’s regime, but he will also work with the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Center for World Change and Global Peace.\nIstrabadi said his time at IU will be mutually beneficial to himself and to the institution. He hopes to learn about different ways of looking at rebuilding Iraq from IU’s researchers in SPEA, the political science department and the School of Law, while providing IU with the knowledge he has gained from his practical experience in the country.\nBut more than anything, Istrabadi’s position at the Law School is a homecoming. Istrabadi spent much of his childhood in Bloomington and graduated from IU in 1988. His sister, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures professor Zaineb Istrabadi, and mother both live in town.\n“I grew up in Bloomington,” he said. “I’ve always regarded it as home.”\nIstrabadi is unsure whether he will resign, retire or simply take a leave of absence from his government post, but he said he feels the time is right to step away from politics, at least for now.\nIstrabadi said that because he was a high-level political appointee, he feels it is important to rotate out of his position and let someone new take over. The job at IU will also give him an opportunity to take a break from the demanding and stressful situation in Iraq, Robel said.