David Victor

David Victor is a professor of international relations at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and director of the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation (ILAR). Prior to joining the faculty at University of California, San Diego, Victor was a professor at Stanford Law School where he taught energy and environmental law.

His research focuses on regulated industries and how regulation affects the operation of major energy markets. He has a dual understanding of the science behind climate change and how international and domestic public policy work. Victor authored "Global Warming Gridlock" (Cambridge University Press, 2011), which explains why the world hasn't made much diplomatic progress on the problem of climate change while also exploring new strategies that would be more effective. The book was recognized by The Economist as one of the best books of 2011.

Victor is a leading contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations-sanctioned international body with 195 country members. Victor’s expertise was recently tapped by the Southern California Edison to lead the company’s community engagement panel for decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. According to utility officials, he was chosen to lead the panel because he has the vision, leadership, and experience to bring together a diverse group of concerned people.

Victor co-founded and directs the ILAR research center at University of California San Diego. ILAR’s work in understanding regulation, from climate change treaties to human rights accords, aims to have a significant impact on all players in international relations––those working in the global economy in multinational firms, aid, and development as well as nongovernmental organizations. ILAR, and by extension Victor himself, study how regulation, international and domestic, actually work.

His doctorate is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.

Affiliations:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science, member
• American Geophysical Union, chair
• American Political Science Association, member
• American Society of International Law, member
• International Institute for Strategic Studies, member
• International Studies Association, member

Education

• Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997
• B.A., Harvard Univeristy, 1987