Earlier this week, I was excited to see this announcement that Harvard Law School’s Class of 2014 had selected Tyler Giannini to receive the Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on a member of Harvard Law’s faculty.

Back in 1995, Tyler was one of ERI’s co-founders, and many of our staff and alumni had the privilege of working with Tyler during his time with our organizations. Other, myself included, studied under him at Harvard Law, where he serves as the director of the human rights clinic.

So I’m pleased, on behalf of everyone here at ERI, to join in the well-deserved chorus of congratulations. We all know how deeply deserving Tyler is of this recognition, and we are filled with pride and excitement by the news. Beyond being a brilliant lawyer and an innovator in pedagogy, Tyler brings a commitment, kindness, and sensitivity to all of his work, modeling for his colleagues and students how to be a human rights advocate, a lawyer, and a teacher.

I asked Katie Redford, one of our other co-founders, to comment on the award, and this is what she told me:

“The world is a better place because of my friend Tyler Giannini. Since Tyler and I became friends in law school, and then joined with Ka Hsaw Wa to start EarthRights International, he has always been winning awards in my book!  For me, he gets first prize as teacher, lawyer, activist and friend.  He has been a tireless advocate for the world’s most vulnerable communities and ecosystems, and his commitment to building a strong and effective cadre of young activists and lawyers, with ERI and at HLS, has been unmatched.”

Congratulations, Tyler!