... 1927 (80 years ago today), Dr. Sadako Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. After earning her B.A. degree from the University of the Sacred Heart in that city, Ogata moved to the United States, where she earned an an M.A. in International Relations from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Long prominent in academia -- she served as Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Tokyo's Sophia University -- Ogata's had a long, distinguished U.N. career. A small sample of posts: U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (1991-2000); U.N. Commission on Human Rights (1982-1985); and co-chair, U.N. Commission on Human Security (2001-2003). She's pictured at right presenting that Commission's report, along with co-chair Amartya Sen, to then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan.... 1928, Patricia McGowan was born in "the manufacturing town of Torrington, Connecticut," where she "spent her summers working in the brass mills." She graduated
1st in her class at Connecticut College for Women, then became 1 of a very few women students at Yale Law School. On earning her J.D. she worked in the chambers of Judge Jerome Frank -- the 1st woman law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit. After a 10-year hiatus as she and her husband raised a family, she returned to law practice and public service; in particular, on matters of criminal justice and mental health. In 1979, Patricia M. Wald became the 1st woman to Judge on a U.S. Court of Appeals, serving as the D.C. Circuit's Chief Judge from 1986 to 1991. On retirement from the federal bench, she was a Judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1999-2001). Since then she's served on the President's prewar intelligence commission, and is on the board of a number of groups concerned with international law.... 1950, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) was born in Bethesda, Maryland.
... 1987 (20 years ago today), the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted; it entered into force on January 1, 1989. Nearly all the world's countries now are states parties to this protocol and, in large part, to subsequent instruments that have amended and added to it. For details on why it's sometimes called the "most successful international environmental treaty," see the "When A Treaty Works" post by our Opinio Juris colleague Duncan Hollis.
