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Catherine A. Admay

Senior Lecturer in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Box 90237, Durham, NC 27708-0237
302 Towerview Dr, RH 282, Sanford School of Public Policy, Durham, NC 27708-0237

Overview


JD, Yale Law School, 1992
BA, magna cum laude, Yale College, 1988

Catherine Admay taught at NYU Law School (1994-96) and Duke Law School (1996-2002) before joining, as visiting faculty, the departments of Political Science and Public Policy/Duke Center for International Development. Admay now serves as Lecturer of Public Policy and a Faculty Affiliate to Duke’s Global Health Institute. She co-founded NYU Law's first international law clinic (serving the government of Eritrea and civil society organizations) and founded and directed Duke Law School's first international development law clinic (serving the government of South Africa and civil society organizations). She has served as a legal consultant to the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (report issued May, 2006) and as a legal scholar contributing to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (report issued October, 1998).

Admay worked for the Legal Resources Centre in Pretoria and Gazankulu, South Africa, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Office of the Legal Advisor in the United States Department of State, and with private law firms in Washington, D.C. and Seattle. She clerked for Hon. Betty Binns Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals on the 9th Circuit in Seattle, Washington.

Admay's teaching and research interests are in the areas of human rights, law and development, global health, comparative constitutional law of socio-economic rights, conflict transformation, and interdisciplinary engagements with law (ethics, arts, storytelling).

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Senior Lecturer in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2020 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Assistant Director of Graduate Studies in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2023 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy
Affiliate, Duke Global Health Institute · 2008 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society · 2020 - Present Duke Science & Society, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Affiliate of the Duke Center for International Development · 2023 - Present Duke Center for International Development, Sanford School of Public Policy

In the News


Published January 31, 2025
Three Undergraduate Faculty Win Inaugural Judith Deckers Teaching Award
Published October 1, 2024
Judith Deckers Prize Finalists Announced
Published July 22, 2024
Incorporating Climate & Sustainability into Classes Across Duke

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Recent Grants


Re-Presenting Justice and the Constituting of Human Culture

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2009 - 2010

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Education, Training & Certifications


Yale University · 1992 J.D.
Yale University · 1988 B.A.