Welcome, everyone; it is a pleasure to see you as always. This is a very special inaugural event and one that I am very excited about because as we all know, the history of Goler T. Butcher is very special. This award has been awarded since 1997 to a distinguished person of American or other nationality for outstanding contributions to the development or effective realization of international human rights, and as we also know, it was named for Goler Teal Butcher, a remarkable person, prominent African American scholar, and professor of international law at Howard University School of Law, who served as the assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Carter administration, and was a leading advocate for ending global hunger. We are here very much to honor the legacy.
The society's long connection with Judge Eboe-Osuji, including his speech at our last in-person meeting in 2019 while he was president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is not to be forgotten, and that long relationship continues. We were so pleased to be able to give this wonderful award at yesterday's assembly. I want to thank Dean Michael Scharf and Case Western Reserve University School of Law for their very generous sponsorship of this event. I know she would be very proud of where this award is at this stage. Let me please welcome Michael to the podium.