R. Randle Edwards, the Walter Gellhorn Professor Emeritus of Law, joined the Columbia University faculty in 1973. He is a former faculty member of the University’s East Asian Institute and former director of the Law School’s Center for Chinese Legal Studies. Edwards was chairman of the Committee on Legal Education Exchange with China from 1983 to 1991. He has published articles on China’s criminal law, its practice of international law, and Chinese legal history.
Edwards was an associate in Chinese law at Harvard Law School from 1967 to 1973, and acting director of the school’s East-Asian legal studies from 1971 to 1972. He served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Chinese Law (now known as the Columbia Journal of Asian Law) from 1987 to 1996. His publications include Human Rights in Contemporary China (with Henkin and Nathan) (1986) and Essays on China’s Legal Tradition (co-editor with Cohen) (1980).
A graduate of Harvard University, Edwards earned his A.B. from the school in 1956, his J.D. in 1964, and his M.A. in philosophy in 1967. He is the first person to be designated the Walter Gellhorn Professor Emeritus of Law at the Law School.