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Professor George Edwards received Indiana University’s John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies. He was presented with the honor April 5. A portion of a video that was presented during the award ceremony is available here.

The award recognizes faculty members and librarians for exceptional contributions in teaching, research, or professional service to international programs at IU over a period of many years which have sustainable impact on the students, faculty, and staff of Indiana University. Initiated in 1991, the award is named after late the Indiana University President John W. Ryan who led the institution from 1971 to 1987 and was instrumental in fostering IU’s commitment to excellence in international education. In addition to an award parchment, the honor comes with a $2,500 award.

Professor Edwards founded the Program in International Human Rights Law (PIHRL) at IU McKinney in 1997. PIRHL has placed more than 250 students in internships in  nearly 70 countries since its founding. Students work with private human rights organizations, governmental bodies, and the United Nations.

PHIRL created the Military Commission Observation Project (MCOP) after the Pentagon granted non-governmental organization observer status to PIHRL in 2014. MCOP participants view commission proceedings for Guantanamo Bay detainees through video link at Fort Meade in Maryland, or travel to Guantanamo Bay to witness them in person.

Professor Edwards is the Carl M. Gray Professor of Law at IU McKinney. He has been elected as Delegate to two Presidential National Conventions, and attended two others, and has worked on political campaigns at all levels, from local to the Presidential, including working at primaries and caucuses around the U.S., primarily on legal matters related to voter protection. He received the National Bar Association’s Sankofa Award in Summer 2020.