Dean Sudha Narayana Setty

Sudha Setty is the Dean and a Professor of Law at Western New England University School of Law. Professor Setty's scholarly work focuses on comparative analysis of separation of powers, rule of law and national security issues.  Her recently completed book, National Security Secrecy: Comparative Effects on Democracy and the Rule of Law, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017.

Her other recent scholarship has appeared in numerous books and journals, including the Chicago-Kent Law Review, Stanford Journal of International Law, American Journal of Comparative Law and Harvard National Security Journal, and she is the editor of the 2014 book, Constitutions, Security and the Rule of Law.  She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy and on the executive committee of the American Society of Comparative Law.  Professor Setty has been quoted in stories about national security law in the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, the Christian Science Monitor and numerous other national and local media outlets.

Professor Setty has taught Constitutional Law, Law & Terrorism, National Security Law, National Security & Government Accountability, Civil Rights, and other courses.  She was a Visiting Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2011, a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law in 2014, and a visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town in 2018.  She was awarded Western New England Law School's Catherine J. Jones Professor of Year Award in 2009, 2016 and 2018, was recognized in 2015 as Trailblazer by the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut, and received the 2017 Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award from the Connecticut Bar Association.

Prior to joining the faculty of Western New England, Professor Setty was a litigator with the New York firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she focused on antitrust and securities regulation matters.  She served as defense counsel in civil, regulatory and criminal matters involving national security issues, including terrorism financing investigations and lawsuits, and a pro bono matter challenging sentencing guidelines for those convicted of terrorist acts.  Her pro bono practice also included litigating federal civil rights cases, working on state constitutional challenges to immigration-related ballot initiatives, and the mentoring of New York City high school students.  Professor Setty graduated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar from Columbia Law School and received her A.B. in History (concentration in comparative civil rights) with honors from Stanford University.