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Virginia Leary, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emerita in the UB Law School, died April 8 in Geneva, Switzerland, where she had lived since retiring from UB in 1995.
A UB faculty member for 19 years, Leary was a pioneer in teaching and scholarship in human rights law. She was a founding member of the Geneva-based International Council for Human Rights Policy, and had undertaken human rights missions on behalf of Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and Human Rights Watch.
She also had been a consultant to the World Health Organization and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as serving on the boards of such organizations as the Centre on Housing and Evictions, Human Rights Advocates, the International Labor Rights Forum and Human Rights Watch Asia.
She had co-founded and served as co-director of the Human Rights Center in the UB Law School.
Leary also was a leader—and one of the first women to attain universal recognition—in international law, serving with distinction on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. She consulted extensively for NGOs and intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations.
A prolific scholar, Leary wrote books, book chapters and articles on international labor law, workers’ rights, child labor issues, and international trade and human rights. She recently co-edited the book “Social Issues, Globalization and International Institution: Labour Rights and the EU, ILO, OECD and WTO.”
She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Chicago, a doctoral degree from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and the diploma of the Hague Academy of International Law.
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