CLEVELAND, OH, August 23, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to name Michael Paul Scharf a Lifetime Achiever. An accomplished listee, Mr. Scharf celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in the fields of law, education, and diplomacy. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
As a remarkable international legal agent, Mr. Scharf has served as dean of the school of law for Case Western University since 2013, after having served for a decade as Associate Dean for Global Legal Studies and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center. He is a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee along with the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), which he co-founded with Paul Williams in 1995. The non-governmental organization provides pro bono legal advice to states and international institutions on drafting peace negotiations and constitutions, as well as the prosecution of war criminals. In the nomination letter, clients including the Chief Prosecutor of an International Tribunal, lauded PILPG for "significantly contributing to the promotion of peace throughout the globe by providing crucial pro bono legal assistance to state and non-state entities involved in peace negotiations and in bringing war criminals to justice."
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1963 to Harry and Joan Scharf, Mr. Scharf is an alumnus of Duke University, and was featured by the university's web page for his Nobel nomination. He earned a JD in 1988, and initially served with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, Florida, as a judicial clerk. In 1989, Mr. Scharf joined the U.S. Department of State as an attorney-adviser with the office of the legal adviser, where he served until 1993, the year he was honored with the State Department's Meritorious Service Award. He accepted a position with the New England School of Law, where he taught while he laid the groundwork for PILPG.
In 1995, the organization took off with Mr. Scharf at the helm as managing partner. "...Developing countries and countries emerging from civil war or transitioning to democracy often can't afford such specialized public international legal expertise," noted Mr. Scharf for Duke. "Paul Williams and I founded PILPG to fill that gap, essentially transforming the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser alumni association into the world's premier pro bono public international law firm."
Operating in London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, The Hague, and other venues, PILPG has provided assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Cambodia Genocide Tribunal, the Iraqi Special Tribunal, and the International Criminal Court. Mr. Scharf himself has served as a U.S. delegate to the 46th and 47th sessions of the U.N. General Assembly, as well as a delegate to the 49th session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. During a sabbatical in 2009, he served as a special assistant to the prosecutor of the Cambodia Genocide Tribunal. He has also led USAID-funded projects in Uganda, Libya, the Ivory Coast, Kenya, The Seychelles, and Mauritius. In 2013, Mr. Scharf announced his group was pursuing accountability for war crimes in Syria, and in 2016, he published the widely cited "How the War Against ISIS Changed International Law," regarding the legality of use of force in Syria in the aftermath of the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.
Out of the international spotlight, Mr. Scharf has been a remarkable figure in legal education, and was welcomed by Case Western Reserve University in 2002, and appointed to a Chaired Professorship in 2009. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a Visiting Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Mr. Scharf is a prolific author, with eighteen books to his name documenting everything from "Balkan Justice: The Story Behind the First International War Crimes Trial Since Nuremburg" to "Prosecuting Maritime Piracy." Three of Mr. Scharf's book have been honored with national book of the year awards. He is perhaps best remembered in popular culture circles for his 1994 article, "The Interstellar Relations of the Federation: International Law and Star Trek: The Next Generation" written with Lawrence D. Roberts and published in the University of Toledo Law Review.
Mr. Scharf has held leadership positions in numerous legal societies, notably the International Law Association, American Bar Association, American Society of International Law, International Association of Penal Law, D.C. Bar Association, and the International Law Students Association. Since 2013, Mr. Scharf has served as chairman of the board of advisers for the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition.
In 2014, Mr. Scharf launched the world's first International Law Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) via Coursera; the course recently surpassed 125,000 enrollees from 127 countries. In addition, since 2012, he has been the host of "Talking Foreign Policy," a talk radio show produced quarterly by Cleveland's NPR Station, which was recently renewed for a fifth year.
For his incredible service as a champion of international justice and as an agent of international peace, Mr. Scharf was welcomed for inclusion in numerous volumes of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in the Midwest, and Who's Who in the World. He is the father of Garrett Michael with his wife, Trina Elizabeth Smith. Mr. Scharf enjoys skiing, sailing, jogging, traveling, and playing guitar and singing in his "Razing the Bar" rock band, composed of a mix of law students and professors.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Mr. Scharf has been featured on the Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievers website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
# # #