Former U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd and the late Wiktor Osiaty\u0144ski, an eminent constitutional scholar whose fight against injustice spanned the world, will be honored for their inspiring legacies through the establishment of two human rights professorships at UConn.<\/p>\n
The Board of Trustees recently approved creation of the Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice and the Wiktor Osiaty\u0144ski Chair in Human Rights, both of which will be part of the Human Rights Institute<\/a> (HRI) in the Office of Global Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The chair positions are both endowed<\/a>, meaning they are funded by gifts specifically given through to UConn Foundation by donors to support scholarship, outreach, and teaching in human rights and related critical areas.<\/p>\n The Dodd Chair<\/a> will head Dodd Human Rights Impact<\/a> programs and be filled after an international search that starts in August. The first Osiaty\u0144ski Chair<\/a> will be a current UConn faculty member who will be selected over the coming academic year in time to start in fall 2023.<\/p>\n UConn is a national leader in the rapidly expanding field of human rights and is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Human Rights Institute in the 2022-23 academic year.<\/p>\n This year also marks 10 years since UConn established an undergraduate major<\/a> in human rights, becoming the first public U.S. university to do so, after having already created it as a minor in 2001. HRI also has other robust human rights programs offered at the masters and graduate certificate levels.<\/p>\n Dodd and Osiaty\u0144ski both have had profound impacts on the global effort to protect and promote human rights, and to fight for dignity and equality throughout society.<\/p>\n The establishment of the endowed chair positions in their names builds on the University\u2019s dynamic interdisciplinary Human Rights Institute and its commitment to advancing the scholarship, teaching, and practice of human rights.<\/p>\n \u201cThese new chairs honor two global human rights giants. We are very proud to be able to recognize their achievements and legacies in this way,\u201d says Daniel Weiner, UConn\u2019s vice president for global affairs.<\/p>\n The Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice is named in honor of the former U.S. senator and congressman<\/a>, who followed in the footsteps of his father to use his positions and influence to passionately advocate for human rights<\/a> across the globe.<\/p>\n Dodd\u2019s father, Thomas J. Dodd<\/a>, was also a senator and congressman, and was among the prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials on which some of the most notorious Nazi war criminals were prosecuted for World War II atrocities perpetrated under the Third Reich.<\/p>\n Christopher Dodd continues his work through his support of the Dodd Center for Human Rights at UConn, including having hosted President Joe Biden<\/a> in fall 2021 to focus on human rights advocacy and action<\/a>.<\/p>\n Senator Dodd and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, established the Dodd Endowment<\/a> at the UConn Foundation in 2020 and initial gifts to the fund were announced in 2021 in conjunction with President Biden\u2019s visit to dedicate the Dodd Center for Human Rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c(It) will honor Senator Dodd\u2019s contributions to the world and to the University, and extend his legacy by creating a new and innovative space for UConn\u2019s human rights outreach and engagement work \u2026 (It) will help address the urgent need to protect human rights and preserve human dignity,\u201d UConn Interim President Radenka Maric told trustees in her recommendation to approve the new endowed chair.<\/p>\n The second endowed chair in honor of Wiktor Osiaty\u0144ski will rotate every three years among UConn faculty who have made significant contributions in their careers to the study of human rights.<\/p>\n UConn alumnus Gary Gladstein \u201966 (CLAS) \u201908 (HON) and his wife, Dr. Phyllis Gladstein, have been integral to the growth and success of the institute, including Gladstein\u2019s recent partnership with George Soros of the Open Society Foundations<\/a> to establish the endowed fund supporting the new Osiaty\u0144ski Chair.<\/p>\n The Gladsteins have donated generously<\/a> over more than two decades in support of human rights education and programming at UConn, including endowing the Gladstein Chair of Human Rights<\/a> in 2003 and the Marsha Lilien Gladstein Visiting Professorship in Human Rights<\/a> in 2000.<\/p>\n