Thomas Alexander Aleinikoff (born 1952) is Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School in New York City. He was a law professor and dean at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He served, from 2010 to 2015, as the Deputy High Commissioner in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland. He was most recently Visiting Professor of Law and Huo Global Policy Initiative Research Fellow, Columbia Global Policy Initiative. Background Aleinikoff attended White Plains Senior High School (Class of 1970) later moving on to receive a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Swarthmore College in 1974. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1977. While at Yale, Aleinikoff was editor of the Yale Law Journal. He served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Weinfeld of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and from 1981 to 1987 was on the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School. Aleinikoff joined the law faculty of Georgetown University Law Center in 1997. From 2003 to 2004, Aleinikoff was associate dean of the Law Center and was named dean of the Law Center and executive vice president of Georgetown University in 2004. Aleinikoff specializes in immigration policy and has written a number of books on the topic. He has been a senior associate at the Migration Policy Institute, executive associate commissioner of programs, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the U.S. Department of Justice (it is now part of the Department of Homeland Security), and general counsel of the INS. Aleinikoff was co-chair of the Immigration Policy Review Team for the Presidential transition of Barack Obama. On December 2, 2009, Aleinikoff notified students and faculty of his intention to accept appointment as Deputy High Commissioner of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). António Guterres of Portugal said, "Mr. Aleinikoff brings a rich combination of skills and experience that will serve refugees and UNHCR extremely well." Mr. Aleinikoff expressed his gratitude for the appointment, saying, "I am honored to be joining UNHCR, an organization I have admired for many years. I look forward to contributing to UNHCR's work on behalf of more than 34 million refugees, internally displaced and other persons of concern around the world." As executive associate commissioner at