Edward Luck, UN Expert, Rejoins SIPA Faculty

Edward C. Luck MIA ’72, who served from 2008 to 2012 as United Nations assistant secretary-general and special advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has joined Columbia SIPA as the Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs. Luck, who previously held a professorship of professional practice at SIPA from 2001 through 2010, will also direct the School’s specialization in international conflict resolution.

While serving as special advisor to the UN Secretary-General, Luck was instrumental in developing and implementing the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which underscores the responsibility of the international community, as well as the state, to prevent and halt genocide and other mass atrocities. He is currently developing the parallel principle of the individual responsibility to protect (IR2P).

A leading expert on the UN Security Council, UN reform, and U.S. relations with the world body, Luck previously served as senior vice president of the International Peace Institute, a New-York based policy research center, and as president and CEO of the United Nations Association of the USA.  He has taught at Sciences Po in Paris and at Princeton University, as well as directing an NYU-Princeton research center and serving as a dean at the University of San Diego.

“I’m pleased to welcome Professor Edward Luck back to the SIPA community,” said Dean Merit E. Janow. “His experience as both a senior practitioner at the United Nations and a distinguished scholar and academic leader makes him a wonderful fit for our faculty. I look forward to his leadership as director of our specialization in international conflict resolution.”

Luck is the author or editor of five books and hundreds of chapters, reports, and scholarly articles. A second edition of his most recent book, The UN Security Council: Practice and Promise, is scheduled for publication in spring 2016. Luck has advised numerous countries around the world, U.S. government agencies, and foundations, as well as a number of UN secretaries-general and presidents of the General  Assembly. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Century Association, and the boards of several non-profit organizations.

“I am delighted to be returning to SIPA as Saltzman professor and director of the specialization in international conflict resolution,” Luck said. “SIPA has a proud tradition of training the world’s future leaders, and I look forward to working with students committed to resolving international and sectarian conflict and building international norms and institutions. As a member of the School’s distinguished community of scholars and practitioners, I will have unparalleled opportunities to pursue my ongoing academic and policy work.”

Luck received an AB from Dartmouth College.  In addition to his MIA at SIPA, he earned the Certificate of the Russian institute and a PhD in Political Science from Columbia.