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SIPA Faculty
Merit E. Janow
International Affairs Building, Room 927
Professor in the Practice of International Economic Law and International Affairs
Phone: 212-854-1724
merit.janow@sipa.columbia.edu
www.columbia.edu/~mj60/
mj60@columbia.edu
Biography:
Merit E. Janow was appointed a professor in the practice of international economic law and international affairs in the fall of 1994. She is also director of the Program in International Finance and Economic Policy at SIPA , co-director of Columbia's APEC Study Center and a member of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Professor Janow teaches graduate courses in international economic and trade policy at SIPA and international trade law, china in the WTO and comparative antitrust at Columbia Law School.
While at Columbia, Professor Janow has undertaken a variety of external advisory activities along with her substantial ongoing research activities. In December 2003, she was elected by the 151 member nations and customs unions of the World Trade Organization to serve as one of the seven Members of the WTO's Appellate Body. The Appellate Body is the global court of final appeal for intergovernmental trade disputes in Geneva, Switzerland. She was the only North American Member and the first female to serve on the Appellate Body. Professor Janow's term expired in late December 2007.
During her four years of service she was the presiding judge or Member on over 30 appeals, on matters ranging from high technology, agricultural and other subsidies, trade remedies, GATT provisions, services, etc.
For the last ten years, Professor Janow has served on the boards of directors of several corporations and not for profit organizations. In 2009, Professor Janow become a charter member of the International Advisory Council of the China Investment Corporation, China's sovereign wealth fund. From 1997 to 2000, Professor Janow served as the Executive Director of the first international antitrust advisory committee to the Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, US Department of Justice.
Prior to joining Columbia's faculty, Professor Janow was Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan and China (1990-93). She was responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing U.S. trade policies and negotiating strategies toward Japan and China. She was a key negotiator in a dozen trade agreements with Japan and China.
Before her initial government tenure, Professor Janow was a corporate lawyer specializing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York, and previously worked on international trade policy at a U.S. think tank. She spent more than 15 years in Japan and is fluent in Japanese. She has a JD from Columbia Law School and a BA in Asian Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the author of several books and numerous articles.
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