Human Rights Institute Distinguished Fellows
Distinguished Fellows are senior human rights lawyers, academics, and activists who bring a wealth of diverse perspectives and experience to our team. They consult with faculty, attend courses and colloquia, guest lecture, and contribute to publications. We invite students to engage with our Distinguished Fellows during their time here and join us for our series of lunch & learns about their work and careers.
Scott Busby has spent more than 30 years working on human rights, refugee, and migration issues, serving in a variety of positions with the U.S. government and international organizations.
Scott has a distinguished career of public service in human rights. For the last decade, he has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, where he has overseen at various times the bureau’s work on the East Asia and the Pacific region, Africa, the Western Hemisphere, multilateral issues, business and human rights, labor issues, and human rights-based sanctions.
García Muñoz has a distinguished record of research, education, and advocacy on the rights of women, LGBTQ people, Afro descendent and indigenous communities, as well as extensive human rights experience in the European, Inter-American and United Nations systems. In 2017, she was elected as the first ever Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (REDESCA), a position she held for six years.
Wade McMullen is a human rights lawyer and organizational leader with nearly two decades of experience working in service of social justice movements across the United States, Latin America, and Africa.
Bob Muse is a partner at Levy Firestone Muse LLP and one of Washington’s leading trial lawyers. A fixture of the D.C. legal community for many years, Bob has represented clients in some of the highest profile civil, criminal and congressional matters.
Michael Pates served in pivotal leadership roles for 25 years at the American Bar Association (ABA), the world's largest voluntary organization of lawyers and judges.
Wendy Patten is a leader, strategist, and lawyer who works to address complex public policy challenges and advance human rights and justice in the United States and globally. She has held leadership roles in non-profit organizations, the U.S. government, and foundations and has worked on civil and human rights, the rule of law, and other policy reform issues at the local, national, and international levels.
Diann Rust-Tierney is a national legal and legislative policy advocate with more than 40 years of experience developing, coordinating, and implementing policy and culture change to advance civil and human rights. She has led efforts to develop a coordinated state and federal strategy to reduce support for and end capital punishment in the US.