Naz K. Modirzadeh

Naz K. Modirzadeh is the founding Director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (HLS PILAC). In May 2016, she was appointed as a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. In the Spring 2019 term, she will teach International Humanitarian Law/Laws of War, Counterterrorism and International Law, and Public International Law. At HLS PILAC, Modirzadeh is responsible for overall direction of the Program, contributing to its cutting-edge research initiatives and briefing senior decision-makers.

In addition to taking part in several expert advisory groups for UN research initiatives, Modirzadeh is a non-resident Research Associate in the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, on the Advisory Board of Geneva Call, and on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP).

Her current scholarship focuses on normative and practical dimensions of the U.S. “War on Terror” and other contemporary challenges concerning international law and armed conflict. She frequently contributes to academic and professional initiatives in the areas of humanitarian action, counterterrorism, and the laws of war. 

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.