I am so very excited to join the faculty at Cardozo Law as the director of the hallowed Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution. This program has an illustrious history—created almost 30 years ago by founding director, colleague and friend, Lela Love. I have such joy at being given the opportunity to expand on her legacy and the impressive foundation she and others have built. There is so much I’m looking forward to in the year ahead, including working with our top-ranked Cardozo Journal on Conflict Resolution for a symposium this fall and our International Advocate for Peace Award this spring; coaching and helping with the extensive competition team program—the ADR competition honors society; expanding our LL.M. in dispute resolution and continuing to place our graduates around the country and around the world doing amazing things.

I am looking forward to working with all the wonderful people who make up the Kukin Program—three devoted full-time clinic directors focused on different aspects of ADR; numerous talented adjuncts bringing our students the latest in practice innovations and devoted alumni throughout the world who are happy to step up and continue to support this program. As we move from director to director—from generation to generation—may we also grow from strength to strength.

Sincerely,

Professor Andrea Kupfer Schneider, Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution

Cardozo’s Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution was ranked 4th in the country in U.S. News & World Report's 2022 rankings. The program’s mission is to develop modern-day problem solvers who can skillfully use dispute resolution processes for the benefit of their clients and society. Professor Andrea Kupfer, the director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution, is a world-renowned in the field of alternative dispute resolution.
 

The program includes:

• An exciting array of courses with classes in negotiation, mediation, arbitration and dispute resolution processes, as well as intensive January courses.

• Out-of-the-classroom-applied learning and scholarship in Cardozo’s Mediation Clinic, Divorce Mediation Clinic, ADR Field Clinic and Securities Arbitration Clinic, as well as a variety of national and international dispute resolution skills-related competitions.

• Nationally and internationally recognized faculty who, beyond the classroom, are prominent scholars and practitioners of the concepts and methods they explore with students.

• The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, a student-run tri-annual publication, hosts groundbreaking symposia and panels and annually presents the International Advocate for Peace Award. The Journal is ranked number eight nationally in the broad field of Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution. 
• The Cardozo ADR Competition Honor Society, a student-run organization comprised of student competitors who represent Cardozo in negotiation, arbitration and mediation competitions.
• A Certificate in Dispute Resolution, awarded to J.D. students who complete coursework, writing and service requirements. LL.M. students can also receive an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution and Advocacy.

The Kukin Program was established in 1990 through a generous gift from the late Ira and Doris Kukin. With deep appreciation, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law acknowledges the leadership, financial support and friendship extended to the Kukin Program by the Kukin family.

Dr. Ira Kukin was an honorary member and his son, Jonathan Kukin (CSL ‘87), was a member of the Board of Overseers of Cardozo School of Law. Dr. Kukin was the vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University and the former chairman of its Committee on Academic Affairs. Dr. Kukin was a founder of Apollo Technologies International Corporation, a leading company in the field of air pollution control and energy conservation in Livingston, New Jersey.

In creating the Kukin Program, the Kukin family also sought to honor the late Frank J. Scardilli, the Chief Circuit Mediator of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the longest serving appellate court mediator in the nation. As part of the Kukin Program, the Frank J. Scardilli Lectureship in Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution ensures in perpetuity that students at Cardozo are offered a course in the theory and skills of conflict resolution. Frank Scardilli was the first appointed lecturer, teaching a course on negotiation at Cardozo from 1989 until 2003.