On Thursday, February 27, the University of Miami School of Law celebrated the retirement of Professor Emeritus Bernard Oxman after a career spanning over 45 years. Oxman has decades of experience in helping students, attorneys, and policymakers navigate the law of the sea and resolve international disputes. He played a leading role in the pivotal Third U.N. Conference on the Law of the Sea in the 1970s and served as a judge ad hoc at both the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Oxman began teaching at Miami Law in 1977. He was the Richard A. Hausler Professor of Law and the Maritime Law LL.M. Program director.
Through the years, Oxman has published widely on international law subjects and served as co-editor-in-chief of the American Journal of International Law. He was elected a titular member of the Institut de Droit International, considered the most authoritative world academy of international law. He received the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award and the Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity from the University of Miami and was a member of the U.S. Department of State Advisory Committee on International Law.
In 2022, the American Society of International Law recognized Oxman with its highest honor, the Manley O. Hudson Medal, for his global leadership in forging, strengthening, and teaching the international law of the sea and its application in the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Introducing Oxman at the medal ceremony, Paul Reichler, partner at Foley Hoag LLP in Washington, said, “As a preeminent scholar and outstanding educator, Bernie is truly a superstar in international law. He is also one of the kindest and most decent human beings I have known.”
