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Professor Philip C. Aka, LL.M., summa cum laude, ’08; S.J.D., ’16; Ph.D., has been appointed Dean of the Law Faculty at the International University of Sarajevo, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Aka also holds the academic title of Professor of Law. He served as interim dean for six months before his confirmation as dean.

During his time as interim dean, Aka oversaw the creation of a Moot Court that successfully took part in an international competition in Nuremberg, Germany; a legal clinic, the Center for Human Rights and Transitional Justice, which has already co-organized a workshop; and the IUS Law Journal, which will make its debut in February 2019.

Under Aka's leadership, the law school also revamped the baccalaureate curriculum and activated two master degree programs, expanded the permanent teaching staff, and increased the interface between the law school and its parent institution, he said.

“We compiled these accomplishments while miraculously handling a heavy teaching load for a young faculty that for me included teaching varied courses outside the domain of my human rights specialty,” Aka said, something that he had never had the chance to do in the U.S. During his time as interim dean, Professor Aka taught Aka taught Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Labor Law, Insurance and Social Security Law, Tax Law, and Legal Ethics.

In his role as dean, Professor Aka says he has “turned my attention to student recruitment from regions of the world that our university needs to boost its credentials as a truly international institution of higher learning. We will need students from Africa, particularly English-speaking countries like Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and even Ethiopia.”

Professor Aka remains an adjunct professor at IU McKinney where he has taught International Law and has co-taught International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law with Professor George Edwards. He remains affiliated with Chicago State University where he is a tenured professor initially of political science and subsequently of criminal justice. He has published on a broad range of topics that includes his specialty in human rights. He won an award for his book, Human Rights in Nigeria's External Affairs: Building the Record of a Moral Superpower, in 2017.