Jim Silk and his brother, Spencer Silk

An Indirect Path

Jim, 70, and his brother Spencer, a
West Bloomfield resident, grew up
in Lansing. Their late father, Leonard
Silk, was an engineer at General
Motors and their late mother,
Dorothy, was a housewife who was
involved in Jewish and other causes.
Jim graduated from the University
of Michigan with a B.A. in econom-
ics in 1969 and later earned an
M.A. in the humanities from the
University of Chicago. Spencer says
that Jim “always cared about the
underdog and the human rights of
people.”
After college, Jim backpacked
extensively, served in VISTA and
worked as a handyman among other
jobs, painting barns at one point,
according to his brother.
Silk taught English in China for a

work for the U.S. Committee for
Refugees?
JS: I was a senior writer and senior
analyst from 1984-1986. It was an
advocacy organization for refugee
protection, encouraging the U.S. to
accept more refugees. It was aimed
at U.S. policy and the United Nations
High Commissioner on Refugees.
Q: How did you come to clerk
for Retired Israeli Supreme Court
Justice Aharon Barak?
JS: Aharon Barak shaped consti-
tutional law in Israel and had been
president of the Israeli Supreme
Court. He taught at Yale. He served
on the Israeli Supreme Court dur-
ing the trial of Ivan Demjanjuk,
accused of being Ivan the Terrible,
a Nazi concentration camp guard
responsible for many murders. His
conviction and death sentence
were appealed when new evidence
became available indicating that
another man was Ivan the Terrible.
I spent 10 weeks in Israel in 1990
during the appeal hearings, work-
ing for Barak. We discussed the
case every night after court. (The
conviction and death sentence
were overturned by the Israeli
Supreme Court.)
Q: What was your role in the
Oslo Principles on Global Climate
Change Obligations?
JS: It began as an informal effort
from a group of experts without any
authority who had the idea of taking
existing governmental obligations
and developing principles to protect
the environment. We had experts in
climate change, environmental law,
tort law, human rights. It is a way

year and later worked as a policy
analyst and senior editor at the
U.S. Commission for Refugees. He
was almost 40 before entering Yale
Law School, graduating in 1989.
Silk then served as an attorney at a
Washington law firm, where his pro
bono work included representing a
death-row inmate in his appeals. He
joined Yale’s law faculty in 1999.
Silk is co-director of the Law
School’s Orville H. Schall Jr. Center
for International Human Rights and
administers the Robina Foundation’s
$13 million grant for Yale’s human
rights clinic and other human rights
education programs. The Binger
Clinical Human Rights Chair is
named after James Binger, founder
of the Minnesota-based Robina
Foundation.
Silk’s inaugural lecture is
titled “From Nuremberg to the
Netherlands to Ninevah? The Book
of Jonah, International Justice and
the Promise of Human Rights.” It is
online at https://tinyurl.com/yb8p-
kcgb.

to understand states’ obligations
regarding the environment. It took
several years and was published in
2015.
(Silk was one of 13 international
lawyers and judges who comprised
the Expert Group on Global Climate
Obligations that developed the Oslo
Principles.)
Q: It seems that there is so much
abuse, neglect and violence in much
of the world. Are we becoming a
more brutal society, or do we simply
know more about what is happening
globally?
JS: I can say it’s a dark time.
Industrialization has taken a toll on
the environment. However, some
have written that there is less vio-
lence; there are fewer deaths from
war; there are better gender rights.
Q: How do you remain optimistic
in today’s world?
JS: We work on difficult issues,
sometimes painful issues. You
couldn’t sustain yourself in our kind
of work without hope. I am a hope-
ful person. I am inspired by the stu-
dents who are wonderfully commit-
ted, generous and appreciative.
Q: Tell me about your family.
JS: My wife, Jean, had a career
leading international study abroad
programs. She was president of
the synagogue in New Haven and
recently helped establish a Jewish
Community Alliance for Refugee
Settlement with five other local
congregations. Our daughter, Kira,
is a social worker interested in
reforming the foster care system
and our son, Jonah, is a full-time
soccer coach. •

FERENT
F
I
D
f
o
e
c
n
a
rt
o
p
m
I
e
Th

What’s the
Difference Between:

Q Fama & Fava

Q Warren Buffet’s Approach &

Warren Buffet’s Advice?

Q Active Mutual Funds &

a Detroit Lions Season?

Q Your Current Advisor & Us?

Understanding the answers can help
you invest smarter
For fresh investment insights contact:

248-952-1744
Zachary.Slabotsky@investfinancial.com

Prior Experience:

Cornell University

B.A. with Distinction in Economics

University of Michigan
Ross School of Business

MBA with High Distinction

Dimensional Fund Advisors

Zachary Slabotsky

Society for
Lifetime Planning

Regional Director

NERA Economic Consulting

Analyst

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December 28 • 2017

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