About Roy Prosterman

Roy Prosterman, Founder and Chair Emeritus of the Rural Development Institute (RDI), and Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Washington, is a pioneering world expert on democratic land reform, rural development, and foreign aid. He has provided advice and conducted research in more than 40 countries in Asia, the former Soviet Union, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Professor Prosterman has received numerous awards and distinctions, including having been twice a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, receipt of the 2003 Gleitsman International Activist Award, recognition as an Outstanding Global Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and received the inaugural Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership where he was described as “champion for the world’s poor” in 2006. Most recently, he was named World Citizen of the Year by the World Affairs Council in 2008. Prosterman’s expertise on land rights, foreign aid, and development policy is reflected in his numerous publications and in his access to and relationships with senior developing country officials around the world. Professor Prosterman has a B.A. from the University of Chicago (1954) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (1958). Forty years ago, he left a rising career with one of the nation’s top law firms, Sullivan & Cromwell, for a teaching post at the University of Washington School of Law. Led by a passion for addressing global poverty, he has devoted his career to applying the law to build a better world.