He attended San Diego State University (Bachelor), the University of California, Davis School of Law (Juris Doctor), George Washington University Law School (Master of Laws), and the London School of Economics and Political Science (Doctor of Philosophy).
He is an expert on the laws of war. Before his academic career, Solis served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War in the United States Marine Corps. He is a former military judge advocate and Marine prosecutor, who retired as a lieutenant colonel (O-5).
He previously taught on the London School of Economics"s law faculty for three years, and served on the faculty of the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy (West Point).
Foreign six years he headed West Point"s law of war program, in 2007 he was a Library of Congress scholar in residence, and he is on the teaching faculty of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, in San Remo, Italy. Solis authored Marines and Military Law in Vietnam, as well as Son Thang: An American War Crime and The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War (Cambridge University Press 2010).
