Thomas Alexander Aleinikoff (born 1952) is executive dean of The New School for Social Research and University Professor at The New School in New York City.[1] He was previously director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School and a law professor and dean at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. From 2010 to 2015, Aleinikoff was the Deputy High Commissioner in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2016, he was a visiting professor of law at the Columbia Law School and Huo Global Policy Initiative Research Fellow at the Columbia Global Policy Initiative.[2]
Aleinikoff attended White Plains Senior High School, and received a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College in 1974. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1977. While at Yale, Aleinikoff was editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was a law clerk to Judge Edward Weinfeld of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and from 1981 to 1987 was on the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School.[3] [4]
Aleinikoff joined the law faculty of Georgetown University Law Center in 1997.[5] From 2003 to 2004, Aleinikoff was associate dean of the Law Center and was named dean of the Law Center and executive vice president of Georgetown University in 2004.[6]
Aleinikoff specializes in immigration policy, and has written a number of books on the topic. He has been a senior associate at the Migration Policy Institute, executive associate commissioner of programs, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the U.S. Department of Justice[7] (it is now part of the Department of Homeland Security), and general counsel of the INS. Aleinikoff was co-chair of the Immigration Policy Review Team for the Presidential transition of Barack Obama.[8]
On December 2, 2009, Aleinikoff notified students and faculty of his intention to accept appointment as Deputy High Commissioner of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
As executive associate commissioner at the INS, Aleinikoff oversaw program development from 1995 to 1997. Prior to that, as general counsel for the INS from 1994 to 1995, he participated in decisions that included reform of the US asylum process.