Alex Lewis, Class of 2011 at Rutgers Law School–Newark, Awarded Prestigious Fellowship from American Society of International Law
NEWARK, NJ – When Alexander (“Sash”) Lewis receives his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law–Newark on May 27, 2011, he will have already completed four notable internships in the area of international law. For his fourth position, which he is currently undertaking in Madagascar, Lewis has been awarded an Arthur C. Helton Fellowship from the American Society of International Law (ASIL).
Lewis is one of nine student and young professional winners selected from more than 50 applicants from Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Oceania, and North and South America. The Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program recognizes the legacy of Arthur C. Helton, an ASIL member who died in the August 19, 2003 bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad.
In recommending Lewis for the fellowship, Jon Dubin, Associate Dean for Clinical Education, Professor of Law, and Alfred C. Clapp Public Service Scholar, stated: “Mr. Lewis is an extremely bright, highly motivated, and passionately committed human rights advocate and activist. He will bring energy, creativity, an emerging body of relevant international experience, and strong interpersonal skills to this endeavor, which should make the experience personally and professionally satisfying for all concerned.”
Lewis traveled to Madagascar in mid-March for two months of fieldwork and research at Akany Avoko, a children’s home and school that takes in children who have been separated from their parents by the courts for abandonment, neglect, abuse, or delinquency. His project is to develop a human rights curriculum that will be delivered to the children, their parents, and the staff at Akany and at three other area children’s centers that house delinquents, social cases, and former child slaves.
As a student at Rutgers School of Law–Newark, Lewis has demonstrated an avid interest in public interest law and the ability to do high-quality international humanitarian legal work. A Marsha Wenk Fellow in Public Interest Law and the recipient of a Rutgers Public Interest Law Foundation grant, he has worked in the Constitutional Litigation Clinic and interned at the ACLU–NJ.
In the summer of 2008, as a legal intern for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Lewis drafted reports on the rule of law and transitional justice and a brief to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on illegal slum clearances in Harare, the capital city. He spent the following summer in Phnom Penh where, working for the Documentation Center of Cambodia and drawing on French, Cambodian, and international law, he wrote an amicus brief on the standard of appellate review that the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s appellate chamber should use. He remained in Phnom Penh that fall, working for Legal Aid of Cambodia.
Lewis, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, is a resident of Princeton, New Jersey.
Lewis is one of nine student and young professional winners selected from more than 50 applicants from Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Oceania, and North and South America. The Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program recognizes the legacy of Arthur C. Helton, an ASIL member who died in the August 19, 2003 bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad.
In recommending Lewis for the fellowship, Jon Dubin, Associate Dean for Clinical Education, Professor of Law, and Alfred C. Clapp Public Service Scholar, stated: “Mr. Lewis is an extremely bright, highly motivated, and passionately committed human rights advocate and activist. He will bring energy, creativity, an emerging body of relevant international experience, and strong interpersonal skills to this endeavor, which should make the experience personally and professionally satisfying for all concerned.”
Lewis traveled to Madagascar in mid-March for two months of fieldwork and research at Akany Avoko, a children’s home and school that takes in children who have been separated from their parents by the courts for abandonment, neglect, abuse, or delinquency. His project is to develop a human rights curriculum that will be delivered to the children, their parents, and the staff at Akany and at three other area children’s centers that house delinquents, social cases, and former child slaves.
As a student at Rutgers School of Law–Newark, Lewis has demonstrated an avid interest in public interest law and the ability to do high-quality international humanitarian legal work. A Marsha Wenk Fellow in Public Interest Law and the recipient of a Rutgers Public Interest Law Foundation grant, he has worked in the Constitutional Litigation Clinic and interned at the ACLU–NJ.
In the summer of 2008, as a legal intern for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Lewis drafted reports on the rule of law and transitional justice and a brief to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on illegal slum clearances in Harare, the capital city. He spent the following summer in Phnom Penh where, working for the Documentation Center of Cambodia and drawing on French, Cambodian, and international law, he wrote an amicus brief on the standard of appellate review that the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s appellate chamber should use. He remained in Phnom Penh that fall, working for Legal Aid of Cambodia.
Lewis, who received his undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, is a resident of Princeton, New Jersey.
Media Contact: Janet Donohue
973-353-5553
E-mail: jdonohue@andromeda.rutgers.edu