Dr. Leslye Obiora holds a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Nigeria, a master of laws from Yale University, and a doctor of the science of law from Stanford University. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she has served as the Minister of Mines and Steel Development for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She was the Coca Cola World Fund Visiting Faculty at Yale University and the recipient of prestigious fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study Center, and Djerassi Resident Artists Program. She has also been the Genest Global Faculty Visitor at York University in Toronto; the Visiting Gladstein Human Rights Professor at the University of Connecticut; and a manager of the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law Program.

A veteran of nonprofit board management, Dr. Obiora is on the Board of Directors for UniversalGiving, an organization that raises money for international charities and matches volunteers with global opportunities. She has been a trustee of the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the world’s leading centers for curiosity-driven basic research, and a two-time member of the Law & Society Association Board. Dr. Obiora has also served on the boards of the YWCA of Southern Arizona, Tucson Art Museum, and Casa de los Niños, among others.