Eric N. Richardson

Fellow, US-China Program

Eric is a diplomat, negotiator, and attorney with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Stanford University, a Masters Degree in Law and World Politics from the University of Michigan, and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.  In his early career, Eric was as a journalist, a legislative assistant for his local Congressman and ran the Presidential campaign of Bill Clinton in Michigan’s second and third Congressional districts.  After clerking for a federal district judge and backpacking through Asia, Eric worked as an administrative litigator for the international law firm of Morrison & Foerster.  He sued the U.S. government for clients ranging from Citibank and Nextel to the Satellite Industry Association and Guatemalan immigrants.  In 1996, Eric left MoFo to join the State Department and received his dream assignment to Embassy Beijing, where he served as a political officer from 2002-2007. In a 23-year career Eric worked in and on China, North Korea, Myanmar, New Zealand, Israel, Libya, Tunisia and served as Deputy to the US Ambassador for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  In Washington, Eric was Chief of the North Korea Unit, served as attorney-advisor for the State Department Legal Adviser’s Office, was assistant to the Undersecretary for Global Affairs, and served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for then-Chair Tom Lantos.  Eric was awarded several State Department Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards and received the Assistant Secretary’s award for outstanding service in China in 2005 and the UN Association’s award as outstanding multilateral diplomat in 2016.  He was trained in, and achieved professional fluency in, Hebrew, Arabic, French, German and Mandarin Chinese.

Since leaving the State Department, Eric founded the NGO INHR and serves as its Director in Geneva, training diplomats and civil society actors in international negotiations and helping them design strategies to achieve their UN-related goals.  As a private consultant, Eric convenes international dialogues on topics such as responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in the military, and improving relations with hard-to-reach countries like Eritrea and North Korea.  Eric teaches international law at the University of Michigan and University of California-Berkeley Law Schools, where he mentors students to serve as legal advisors for small diplomatic missions in Geneva. 

Eric is an avid snow and water-skier and has appeared in or directed more than a dozen amateur musicals on three continents.