Nicholas A. Robinson

Professor Nicholas A. Robinson has been a distinguished member of the faculty at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University since 1978. In 2009, Pace University conferred the prestigious position of University Professor for the Environment on Professor Robinson for his significant contribution to scholarship in the field of environmental law, both in the USA and abroad. He also holds the title of inaugural Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law Emeritus.

Professor Robinson is widely recognized in the U.S. and globally as a pioneer of modern environmental law. He began developing environmental law in 1969, when he was named to the Legal Advisory Committee of the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. During his career, he drafted New York’s wetlands and wild bird laws and was inaugurated as the first chairman of both the statutory Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board and Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. He edited the proceedings of the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Professor Robinson is Chair Emeritus of the IUCN World Commission on Environment Law, serving from 1996 to 2004, and responsible for many innovations including the launch of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law. He has engaged in drafting treaties and counseling different countries on preparation of environmental laws.

During his tenure at the Law School, Professor Robinson helped establish its environmental law programs, founded the environmental law review, launched the Pace Environmental Law Clinic, secured Pace’s membership in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and pioneered the first United Nation’s Environmental Diplomacy Practicum. His work and influence can be attributed to advancing the Law School’s premiere reputation as the top ranked Environmental Law Program in the nation and across the globe.

Professor Robinson is a prolific legal scholar with hundreds of books, chapters, law review and scholarly journal articles and citations to his credit on pressing topics including conservation, historic preservation, climate change, sustainable development, zoonosis, human rights, international environmental law and more. A collection of his work is preserved in the Nicholas A. Robinson Seminar Space dedicated at the Law School in 2024. He has served on numerous editorial boards for global publications, including Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law (since 1998), the Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law (since 2004) and the Journal of the Global Pandemic Network (since 2021).

Professor Robinson has contributed greatly to public service at the local, state and international level, serving on dozens of boards and committees over his career. Notably, he was appointed to serve on the environmental transitional teams and advisory boards for three New York State Governors, George E. Pataki (1994-95), Mario M. Cuomo (1985-94), and Hugh Carey (1974).

Demonstrating his impact in the field of Environmental Law, Professor Robinson has been honored with numerous awards and accolades, including designation as the James D. Hopkins Professor of Law (1990-1992), and was a recipient of the Elizabeth Haub Prize in Environmental Law (1992), the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County Award (2003), the Scenic Hudson “Friend of the Hudson” Award (2004), and the American Bar Association’s Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy Award (2018) among many others. Two awards have also been created in his honor to celebrate outstanding achievement in the field of Environmental Law: the Nicholas Robinson Award for Distinguished Environmental Achievement, established at Haub Law in 2005, and the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law, created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law in 2021.

• BA, Brown University
• JD, Columbia University School of Law

• Environmental Law Seminar: Strengthening Env Impact Assessment
• Environmental Law Seminar: Advanced International Environmental Law
• Historic Preservation Seminar

View all of Professor Robinson’s publications on SSRN, Digital Commons or download his CV (PDF).

• Prepared teaching materials in Historic Preservation Law; Comparative Environmental law; International Environmental Law (published by Pace University) Prepared teaching materials for Capacity Building Course In Environmental Law for law professors in Asia and the Pacific (published by the Asian Development Bank)
• Ecological Civilization and Legal Norms for Resilient Environmental Governance, 4 Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 131-161 (Brill/Nijhoff, 2020)
• “Evolutionary Roots Nurturing Equity Across Generations,” Chapter 3 in Legal Actions for Future Generations E. Gaillard and D.N. Forman Eds. (Peter Lang, Brussels, 2020)
• U.S. Regulation of the Environment (Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1990), in Russian
• "Comparative Environmental Law," in Environmental Law (Wang Xi, Editor) (Social Science Research Institute, Beijing, 1998) in Chinese
• Enforcing Environmental Norms & The Earth Charter, Modern Legal Science (issue 1, 2004), (Cao Mingde, Editor), in Chinese
• “International Environmental Law” (Author, new Forward, and co-editor with Lal Kurukulasuriya, UNEP Manual on International Environmental Law, in Farsi (Iran), in Mandarin (China) and Russian (Uzbekistan)
• Convener and contributor, proceedings of annual Colloquia of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press (2003-2007) and Edward Elgar Publishers (2008 to present)
• Ottinger et al, Energy for Sustainable Development (Inaugural Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2003); together with Tafur & Robinson, Compendium of Energy Law for Sustainable Development (Cambridge University Press)

• International Affairs Fellow (1969) [founded the Environmental Law Society and secured approval for the launch of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 1969-70)
• International Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (1977-78) (Environmental Protection and Foreign Policy)
• Elected as Fellow of the College, The American College of Environmental Lawyers (October 19, 2012)
• Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation (Since 1992)

• 2014 – The IUCN World Conservation Congress conferred Honorary Membership on Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson, “in recognition of outstanding service in the field of conservation of nature and natural resources,” Jeju, Korea, 6-15 September 2012
• 2013 – Elected a Fellow of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Waikato, New Zealand
• 2004 – Scenic Hudson “Friend of the Hudson” Award
• 2004 – Honored by the “Tribute to Nicholas A. Robinson” at the 8^th International Congress on Environmental Law of the Institute of Law for a Green Planet, Sao Paulo, Brazil (published in A.H. Benjamin, Wildlife Protection: Policy & Legal Instruments (2004).
• 2003 – Federated Conservationists of Westchester County Award
• 2003 – Elected Honorary Vice President of the Sierra Club Natural Resources Council of America National Environmental Quality Award (Washington, D.C.)
• 1999 – Invested as the first Gilbert & Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, by Pace University
• 1992 – Elisabeth Haub Prize in Environmental Law – Conferred by the Free University of Brussels (Belgium) and ICEL
• 1990-92 – James D. Hopkins Professor of Law - designation by Pace University
• 1984 – Raymond J. Sherwin Award, by The Sierra Club, "For outstanding efforts in the establishment and direction of the International Program of The Sierra Club and for his continuing commitment to the course of international conservation policy."
• 1981 – NY State Bar Association Award, "in recognition of his efforts in spreading knowledge of Environmental Law and of establishing the Environmental Law Section."
• 1976 – Sierra Club Special Achievement Award “for the creative vision and perseverance that produced EARTHCARE the 14th Biennial Wilderness Conference, a dramatic demonstration of the interdependence of the inhabitants of this one world” Selected for Marquis’ Who’s Who in American Education

Covid-19 and Future Pandemics, Zoonosis, United Nations, Biodiversity, Extinction Crisis, New York State Environmental Issues, New York Forest Preserve, Water Quality, Air Quality, Green Amendment, International Environmental Law