Michael Zacharia is Co-Director of the Pacis Project on Faith Based Diplomacy and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law. The Straus Institute has been rated the #1 program in the country by US News and World Report for the last four years. Michael is an executive coach and conducts private mediations in addition to his responsibilities at the Law School.
Michael retired in July, 2007 as Executive Vice President for Business Development, General Counsel and Secretary of DFS Group Limited, the world’s largest travel retail company, in order to enroll full time in the LLM program at the Straus Institute. Michael joined DFS in Hong Kong in 1996, moved back to San Francisco with the company in 1998, and returned to Hong Kong in 2004 when corporate headquarters were relocated there. Prior to joining DFS in 1996, Michael was a partner for seven years in the nationally renowned Washington D.C. law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Previously, Michael was a litigation partner in the largest law firm in Sacramento, California, Weintraub, Genshlea, Hardy Erich and Brown (1983-87) and a litigation associate with Fulbright and Jaworski (Washington, D.C. 1978-81).
In 1988, Michael was appointed by President Reagan and confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. Michael has also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Trade Controls (1987-88) and Special Counsel to the Under Secretary for International Trade in the Commerce Department (1982-83). In 1981, Michael was selected by a Presidential Commission after a nationwide competitive process as one of 14 White House Fellows and served as Special Assistant in the office of the United States Secretary of State.
Michael is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in the top 4% of his class and Order of the Coif from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was an editor of the Law Review. After law school, Michael served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas J. MacBride of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California (1976-78). Michael also externed for Associate Justice William P. Clark, Supreme Court of California (1975).
Michael served on the Board of Directors for Mercy Ships International, a charitable organization bringing healing and hope to the world’s poorest people. He was recently a member of the Board of Friends of Hong Kong Charities, a charitable organization that aids other Hong Kong charities in fulfilling their mission. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the American Club in Hong Kong.
Michael and his wife, Debi, now live in Agoura Hills, CA and have six children ranging in age from 28 to 8. Michael is an avid fly fisherman and runner, completing eight marathons and the 100K Trail Walker race in Hong Kong.
No comments:
Post a Comment