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Hiroko Yamamoto 
J.D.’18, Harvard Law School

Even before I met Professor Alford, fellow students had told me many wonderful things about him: how he was an incredible teacher who took interest in students’ intellectual curiosity and who worked to harness that curiosity into learning. What Professor Alford’s many impressive accomplishments may not necessarily capture – but something I am certain his former students will resoundingly echo – is what a great educator he is. This holds true in his classes and seminars, which I had the privilege of participating in and thoroughly enjoyed, but also in his advisory role to various International Legal Studies initiatives. 

Through my involvement in the Harvard International Law Journal and Harvard International Law Students Association, I had the privilege of witnessing this first hand. Professor Alford fostered our passion for international law and encouraged our growth by guiding us through both the conceptual and practical aspects of these activities. For example, Professor Alford advised us on significant international legal developments and helped situate the emerging legal issues in the broader historical context. I recall sitting together with him and my fellow students in Austin Hall and discussing various issues in international and comparative law.  We relished the chance to discuss these topics with him. And I remember how we bombarded him with questions, but how he had thought-provoking answers to each one that exposed us to the various nuances and the interesting questions still to be explored. When we had proposals for workshops or symposiums hosting international legal luminaries on campus, he welcomed our proposals and offered institutional support and counsel that was critical to the success of those programs.  

Despite the myriad responsibilities he had, Professor Alford was always willing to sit down with us to share his insights and engage with our questions. Professor Alford’s invaluable teaching, advice, and support were imperative in shaping my international legal studies at HLS and have had a permanent, positive impact in my growth in the field.  Thank you very much, Professor Alford, for all that you have done and all that you do.

Scott G. Nichols
Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs (HLS 1986-2006)

When the modern history of Harvard Law School is written, Bill Alford will be joining the pantheon of greats of HLS. Few have shaped and reshaped the School as Bill has done.

I had the good fortune of arriving at HLS about the same time as Bill. Like so many young professors, he was filling the shoes of a legend, Jerry Cohen. It quickly became apparent Bill would not just replace a giant but would shape the School, International Legal Studies and Asian legal scholarship in new, bold, and dramatic ways. ILS had earlier been a subset of HLS programs. Patiently, methodically, Bill convinced faculty, students and administrators that ILS was a core program that was central to everyone.   

During Bill’s time, the outreach of the Law School exploded. Deans made it a high priority.   International alumni were welcomed into the life of the School. Student interest grew geometrically. Curricular offerings added scores of courses in general international and regional legal studies. Bill was essential to the creation and prospering of the Islamic Legal Studies Center, the International Human Rights Program and the International Financial Studies Center, to name a few.

During those years of growth and expansion, I had the pleasure of traveling the globe with Bill in a world-wide trek to build alumni networks and seek financial support for these endeavors. It was a privilege to see how Bill was cherished and respected by so many around the world. His reputation was sterling and it was impressive to be at his side, whether visiting with the Speaker of the Japanese Diet, a Thai princess, or Korean Supreme Court Justices. I had the rare advantage of benefitting from his teaching for 20 years.   

Yet of all his professional and scholarly accomplishments, Bill is valued mostly by me as simply a magnificent person. His many kindnesses to all, his selfless perspective, his endless courtesy and decency define him as one of the extraordinarily special people on the planet. Not to mention his contributions to the Special Olympics.

Bill is truly someone to celebrate.

Keith Lieberthal
J.D.’99, Harvard Law School

Good professors teach you, great professors change you, and a special few stay with you the rest of your life, continuing to do both. Professor Alford has been one of those special few to so many Harvard students over the course of his career. And it is a privilege to count myself among them. As my Chinese law professor, he taught me to examine the country’s legal system through the lenses of history, culture, and politics, alongside traditional legal analysis. And he did so with an intellectual incisiveness and ethical sensitivity I’ve sought to emulate. In the two decades since I was his student, Professor Alford has been a generous mentor, ready with encouragement and counsel at each crossroads in my career, and many in my life. Thank you, Professor Alford, for being one of the special few.

Jung Il-young
LL.M.’15 and current S.J.D. candidate, Harvard Law School

My first contact with HLS was Professor Alford himself when I was trying to decide among the many options I had when choosing a law school for an LL.M. degree. He was kind enough to meet me in person and discuss whatever questions I had about the HLS and more. Even after entering the program, the thoughtfulness and generosity towards his students never failed to impress me. This does not mean that he was compromising as a scholar and a teacher. He was always pushing his students to achieve higher, to be brave and keep asking questions. I will always fondly remember my meetings with him, when he could be funny, challenging, and kind all at the same time. Thank you, Professor Alford, for everything. 

Ryan Goldstein
J.D. ’98, Harvard Law School

Professor Alford is an inspiration.  Very few people are so accomplished and yet so approachable and friendly.  I think that combination is woefully underappreciated.  As a student, that approachability meant so much to me.  He was always willing to talk about ideas and research or just catch up.  I wanted to work harder and do better just to earn his respect.  His accomplishments speak for themselves.  I felt lucky to have the ability to spend time with a professor who is so highly-respected the world over.  It drove home just how special HLS is.  Every interaction.  The fact that he was so friendly and genuinely excited about what we were doing as students is one of my favorite memories from HLS.  I focused on Japan more, yet he took just as much interest in what I was doing as he did with students working exclusively with him.  That left a deep impression of how treating people nicely and genuinely, every day and every interaction, can really inspire them to more.  When I returned to Harvard to visit, he was the same Professor Alford as ever, and those few hours together are also very important to me.  It is hard to come up with words for someone who so appreciably stands out as an example of what a professor should be.  He probably does not even understand how he has made thousands of us into better academics, lawyers, judges and people (I realize these are not mutually exclusive designations, and some of us can be good people and good lawyers!).

Agathon Fric
LL.M. ’18

Like many of my peers, my first brush with Professor Alford came in the form of a letter addressed to me in 2017. It came as part of my acceptance package to Harvard Law School. In it, Professor Alford lauded the Graduate Program’s “emphasis on offering the kind of personal attention and support” one would not ordinarily expect from an institution as large as Harvard Law School. 

I was skeptical. 

Upon arriving in Cambridge, however, I was pleased to discover not only that Professor Alford was true to his word—the Graduate Program has indeed created a special environment in which legal scholars of diverse origins and opinions can debate ideas in a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration—but that he also took it upon himself to personally contribute to and actively participate in the social and academic life of Harvard’s graduate class. 

Although I did not have the pleasure of taking one of his courses, I will always fondly remember Professor Alford as the smiling, bespectacled face that greeted me during orientation, that showed a genuine interest in and admiration of my country during the HLS annual International Party, and that graciously hosted us at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center to watch a Varsity Men’s Hockey game during a memorable “FaculTea” event. 

These small gestures—a smile, a conversation, an invitation—might seem insignificant, and I doubt Professor Alford realized their impact at the time, but they each represent an important stitch in the fabric of the HLS Graduate Program, which, three years later, exudes the warmth and familiarity of a well-worn winter coat. 

I know this feeling. It’s the feeling of home. Thank you, Professor Alford, for opening the door and welcoming me inside.