On September 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the appointment of Leitner Family Professor of International Law Thomas H. Lee to the newly established Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Professor Lee will balance his new role with his existing commitments to the Law School community.
Chaired by U.S. Air Force General (retired) Lester Lyles, the Committee is charged with providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense to improve diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in the U.S armed forces. The committee will conduct public hearings, site visits, and other activities as necessary to fulfill its missions.
Professor Lee, who joined the Fordham faculty in 2002, is a prominent scholar of constitutional law and international law, a former Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, and a U.S. Navy veteran who served on active duty as a naval cryptologist ashore in Korea, Japan, and Washington, D.C., and afloat in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans aboard submarines, aircraft carriers, and other warships. This year, Professor Lee and Senior Judge Denny Chin ’78 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, launched the Center on Asian Americans and the Law at Fordham University School of Law, a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to civic education, research and scholarship, and outreach and advocacy on AAPI legal issues.