Professor David B. Thronson

David Thronson is a Professor of Law at the Michigan State University College of Law after joining the faculty in 2010. He has previously served twice as MSU Law’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and twice as MSU Law’s Associate Dean for Experiential Education. From 2019 to 2024 Thronson served as the Director of the Talsky Center for Human Rights and the Alan S. Zekelman Professor of International Human Rights Law. His research focuses on the intersection of family law and immigration law, in particular on the impact of immigration law on children. Thronson currently is Co-President of the Society of American Law Teachers.

Professor Thronson graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in mathematics and education, then taught in Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer. He completed a master's degree at Teachers College, Columbia University and served for several years as a teacher and administrator in the New York City Public Schools. 

Thronson earned his JD from Harvard Law School, where he served as co-editor-in-chief of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. After clerking for the Hon. A. Wallace Tashima, Professor Thronson returned to New York City as a Skadden Fellow at The Door's Legal Services Center. He then served as a Gibbons Fellow in Public Interest and Constitutional Law.

From 1999 to 2002, Professor Thronson taught in the Lawyering Program of New York University School of Law and served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law and Hofstra University School of Law, where he taught immigration law, public international law, and international human rights. Professor Thronson subsequently served as professor and associate dean for clinical studies at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In 2014, Professor Thronson was elected to membership in the American Law Institute.

EDUCATION: University of Kansas, B.S. & B.G.S.; Columbia University, M.A.; Harvard Law School, J.D.