Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles E. Tucker Jr. has been named the new executive director of the  International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at the DePaul University College of Law.  Tucker will manage the day-to-day activities of the institute, which has earned a global reputation for human rights law advocacy.  He brings to the job more than 25 years of experience that includes progressing human rights recognition, especially in post-conflict situations.

“With extensive international law experience gained during civil-military and humanitarian operations in such places as Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Central America, Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Turkey, Chuck brings a unique background to the directorship of IHRLI,” said Glen Weissenberger, dean of the College of Law. “He is a strategic thinker and  planner who is committed to building on IHRLI’s past successes while also working to expand the institute’s scope. I am confident that the College of Law and IHRLI will greatly benefit from his skills and experience.”

As the executive director of IHRLI, Tucker will work to expand the cause of human rights globally before incidents of abuse escalate. “I want to move toward ameliorating human rights abuses before they grow into major conflicts by offering human rights training and assistance to civil authorities, as well as to police and the military forces,” said Tucker. “If the institute can have even a small impact on changing attitudes regarding human rights at this level, we could make a significant contribution to improving the overall landscape.”

A 1982 graduate of the DePaul College of Law, Tucker, who is 51, has enjoyed a distinguished military career. He began as an Air Force captain in 1982 and was promoted to major in 1988, to lieutenant colonel in 1996, to colonel in 2003 and to brigadier general in 2006.  He currently is awaiting Senate confirmation of his promotion to major general.

Tucker was first assigned to the military justice division of the Air Force at the Sheppard Technical Training Center, Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita Falls, Texas.  Thereafter, he served on active duty as an Air Force judge advocate with assignments as chief of civil law in Germany and chief of international law in Turkey.  

He also has served as an assistant professor of law at the U.S. Air Force Academy as well as director of the U.S. Air Force Academy Comparative International Law Program and founding co-editor of the Journal of Legal Studies. Tucker transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 1992 and to the Air National Guard in 1993.

Throughout his military career, Tucker has held various national-level positions, performing senior-level assignments on behalf of the Air Force Judge Advocate General.  He served as an investigator for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force office of the inspector general, where he gained extensive  civil and operational law  experience. He has worked in Baghdad as the military legal advisor to the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq and in the Department of Defense Office of the General Counsel, International Law Division, where he coordinated interagency legal efforts regarding U.S. military assistance to Iraq.  He also served as legal and economic advisor to the high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and as a senior legal advisor in support of military operations in Korea, Honduras, Brazil, the Balkans and Central Asia. In 2001, he was named the Air National Guard’s Outstanding Judge Advocate of the year.

In his civilian life,  prior to joining DePaul, Tucker was a senior field attorney for the United States National Labor Relations Board and an adjunct professor of management at Bradley University. 

In his military reserve capacity, Tucker is the chief of staff of the Joint Force Headquarters (Air), for the Wisconsin National Guard where he is the principal advisor to the deputy adjutant general (Air) regarding the administration, operation, training, tactical employment, maintenance and supply of all Air National Guard units in the state. On Oct. 1, 2008, he will assume the directorship of the joint doctrine, training and force development (J-7) for the National Guard Bureau.  His responsibilities will include doctrine development, training and exercise programs, education, professional development and readiness assessment for all National Guard joint units and operations.                   

Tucker’s numerous awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medals, a Kosovo Campaign Medal, an Iraq Campaign Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Medal, a United Nations Medal and a NATO medal.

As executive director of the institute, Tucker hopes to forge ongoing relationships with those the institute serves. “We want to develop projects where we will have a lasting presence in the environments in which we work,” said Tucker. One area where Tucker especially sees such a need is working to strengthen human rights for women in Central Asia. There, according to Tucker, women can be sent to prison for crimes that have been perpetrated by their sons, husbands or other male relatives.

M. Cherif Bassiouni, a noted international human rights law scholar and the institute’s  president, founded IHRLI at DePaul in 1990. Since its creation, IHRLI has been at the forefront of contemporary human rights research, training and advocacy. It has earned an international reputation for its work in human rights training, post-conflict justice programs and large-scale human rights documentation projects throughout the world.  The institute also prepares law students, activists and scholars for careers in human rights through fellowship programs, special courses, internships and research opportunities.

For more information about IHRLI, visit its Web site at http://www.law.depaul.edu/centers_institutes/ihrli/about_us/.