Education:

LL.D. University of London
Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
LL.M. School of Law of the Academy University of Law, Institute of State and
          Law, Russian Academy of Sciences
J.D. Harvard Law School
M.A. The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
B.A. The American University

William E. Butler, formerly of University College London, has joined the faculty of Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law as the John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law. An authority on the legal systems of Russia and former Soviet nations, he is the author, co-author, editor or translator of more than 120 books on Soviet, Russian, Ukrainian and other Commonwealth of Independent States legal systems. He also edits the journal Russian Law, published by the Russian Academy of Legal Sciences; the journal Sudebnik, published by The Vinogradoff Institute and the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences; the East European and Russian Yearbook of International and Comparative Law, published by The Vinogradoff Institute; and is on the editorial board of a number of other journals.

Professor Butler formerly held a chair in comparative law at the University of London and is the founder and director of The Vinogradoff Institute, which will now operate as a unit of Penn State Dickinson. Under Professor Butler’s direction, the Institute coordinates research and teaching activities related to Russian and CIS legal systems and publishes the journal Sudebnik.

The recipient of numerous honors for his service to Russian and international law, Professor Butler is Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and has been elected to his third term as a member of the Russian International Court of Commercial Arbitration. He teaches Russian Law; Foreign Investment in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States; Law of Treaties, Law of the Sea; History of International Law; Comparative Approaches to International Law.

Contact Information:
Email: web15@psu.edu
Phone: (717) 240-5227

Selected Publications:
International Law and the Russian Legal System, by B. L. Zimnenko, ed. & transl., Eleven International Publishing, 2007.

Spitsbergen: Legal Regime of Adjacent Marine Areas, by A. N. Vylegzhanin and V. K. Zilanov, ed. & transl., Eleven International Publishing, 2007.

Russian Foreign Relations and Investment Law, Oxford: University Press, 2006.

Russia & The Republics: Legal Materials, Juris Publishing Inc., 2006 (looseleaf service).

Russian Public Law: The Foundations of a Rule-of-Law State: Legislation and Documents, Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2005.

Russian Law, 2d ed., Oxford: University Press, 2003.

The Law of Treaties in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Foreign Investment Law in the Commonwealth of Independent States, London: Simmonds & Hill, 2002.

Russian-English Legal Dictionary and Bibliographic Sources for Russian Law in English, New York: Transnational, 2001.

Soviet Law, 2d ed., London: Butterworths, 1983; 1988.

The History of International Law in Russia, 1647-1917 by V. E. Grabar, ed. & transl., Oxford: University Press, 1990.