The University of Iowa College of Law is pleased to announce the faculty appointment of leading human rights scholar Hope R. Metcalf, starting officially in January 2025.

Drawing on broad experience and expertise in human rights law, Metcalf’s research, practice, and teaching focus on protection of human rights defenders and strengthening democratic spaces, both in the United States and internationally.

Metcalf comes to the University of Iowa after more than 15 years at Yale Law School. From 2014-2024 she served as executive director for the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights Law; she also co-taught in the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic. The Schell Center enables students, faculty, visiting scholars, and the broader institution to conduct research and engage in pressing human rights issues and discussions. 

Metcalf is joining an institution with its own proud history of commitment to and innovation in human rights. Iowa Law School is home to the UI Human Rights Center, a nationally respected program that serves Iowa Law, the UI community, and the state of Iowa as a hub for human rights scholarship, teaching, and engagement.

Prior to Metcalf’s work at the Schell Center, she was director of Yale Law’s Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law. She also served as project director for the National Litigation Project of the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic; she began her Yale Law career as a fellow there from 2007-2008. Before joining academia, she was an associate attorney at the firms of Debevoise & Plimpton and Wiggin and Dana.

Metcalf earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1996 and her law degree from the New York University School of Law in 2001.