Senior Research Fellow and former Executive Director, US-Asia Law Institute; and Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Ira Belkin is a senior research scholar with the U.S.-Asia Law Institute (“USALI”) and Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law. Belkin previously served as USALI’s first executive director from September 2012 to July 2019. From 2007 to 2012, Belkin served as the law and rights program officer at the Ford Foundation in Beijing. Prior to joining Ford, Belkin combined a career as an American lawyer and federal prosecutor with a deep interest in China. He served two tours at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and a year as a fellow at the Yale Law School China Law Center. Before working in China, Belkin spent 16 years as a federal prosecutor in Providence, R.I., where he was chief of the criminal division, and in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he was deputy chief of the general crimes unit. Prior to studying law, Belkin taught Chinese language at Middlebury College. In addition to his J.D. from New York University School of Law, Belkin has a master’s degree in Chinese studies from Seton Hall University and a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Albany.