Michael Karayanni is a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School and the Bruce W. Wayne Chair in International Law at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He serves as a Board Member of Hebrew University’s Minerva Center for Human Rights; he previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Law and established the school’s Center for the Study of Multiculturalism and Diversity as its Founding Director in 2015. He has also held visiting positions at the National University of Singapore, University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, University of Chicago of Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Melbourne Law School, Stanford Law School, and Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He is a member of the Executive Editorial Board of the American Journal of Comparative Law, an associate member of the Institut de Droit International, and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Karayanni specializes in private international law and inter-religious law, multiculturalism, and civil procedure. He has written widely for publications including The Hague Academy of International Law and American Comparative Journal of Law on topics such as choice of law and jurisdiction in the modern age, laws in the context of international conflict, inter-religious adoption, religion and state regarding religious minorities in Israel, and the private international law of class actions.
Karayanni earned his LL.B. at Bar-Ilan University, his LL.M. from George Washington University, a LL.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his S.J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Israeli Bar, and his accomplishments have been recognized through the Zeltner Award; Israel Science Foundation Grants; Michael Bruno Memorial Award; and Fulbright, Rothschild, and Ma’of Fellowships.
