Professor Koh is one of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law, and human rights. He began teaching at Yale Law School in 1985 and served as its fifteenth Dean from 2004 until 2009. From 2009 to 2013, he served the U.S. State Department as Legal Adviser, service for which he received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award. From 1998 to 2001, he served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. A Korean-American, Professor Koh has received seventeen honorary degrees and more than thirty awards for his human rights work. He has authored or co-authored eight books, published more than 200 articles, testified regularly before Congress, and litigated numerous cases involving international law issues in both U.S. and international tribunals.

Professor Koh is the 2018-2019 Carl F. Cranor Visiting Scholar.