When the University of Kansas School of Law welcomed Professor Vera Korzun to its faculty this fall, the school gained not only an experienced teacher but also a scholar whose career spans continents and two decades in the classroom.

After earning her first law degree in her home country of Belarus under the civil law tradition, she pursued additional studies in the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Germany and the U.S., earning at least one law degree in each country. That journey sparked a lasting fascination with international law.

Though teaching was not her original goal, it seemed to be in her DNA. Korzun comes from a family of educators. Over three generations, spanning more than 100 years, her family has included 12 teachers and university professors. Korzun continued that legacy when she was accepted into a Ph.D. program at Belarusian State University.

“Teaching law was part of the Ph.D. experience at the time, but it soon became a part-time and then a full-time job. And I must admit I love it,” she said. “You can’t beat the intellectual experience of teaching, where you never stop learning yourself as you teach new generations of students over the years.”

Since then, Korzun has taught law on two continents, in three countries and at four schools. This fall marks her 20th year in the classroom. This semester, she is teaching a first-year Contracts class and will be teaching International Negotiations in the spring.

The new professor’s current research focuses on international investment law and dispute resolution, an area she describes as a “fascinating hybrid” of international law. Her current projects include an empirical paper that she hopes to submit for publication this year and a forthcoming book co-written with a colleague. 

“At the moment, I am interested in claimants as the users of investor-State dispute settlement and the extent to which provisions of investment treaties on the nationality of foreign investors shield the ‘true’ identity of investors on the case and contribute to treaty-shopping in investment dispute resolution,” she said.

Though she has only recently settled in Lawrence, she has already experienced Kansas’ midwestern charm.

“My colleagues have been welcoming and supportive from my very first visit to KU Law.  I am inspired by their hard work and dedication to teaching, scholarship and service and aspire to follow their lead,” she said. “As to my students, they are hard-working, curious, always prepared and eager to learn. This makes every class truly an enjoyable experience.”

-By Casey Bacot