Background
Symeonides was born in Lythrodontas, Cyprus, in 1949.
Symeonides was born in Lythrodontas, Cyprus, in 1949.
He then attended Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where he studied law. In 1972 he graduated first in his class with the highest grade point average in the history of the school. Symeonides then moved to the United States and attended Harvard Law School where he earned two degrees.
The Cyprus-born legal scholar is also President of the American Society of Comparative Law and former dean at Willamette. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he previously taught at Louisiana State University"s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He earned his degree in private law.
The next year he received a degree in public law, graduating summa cum laude.
He received an Master of Laws in 1974 and a DJS in 1980. While still finishing his legal education at Harvard Law, Symeon Symeonides began working as an assistant professor and then associate professor at Louisiana State University Law Center.
In 1989, he became the Judge Albert Tate Professor of Law at Louisiana State University, teaching there until 1999. While a professor he served as United States. National Reporter to the International Congress of Comparative Law in 1994, and as Rapporteur Général in 1998.
During his time at Louisiana State University he also served as a vice chancellor.
Symeonides has also taught at Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, and his alma mater in Greece. In March 1999, Symeonides was hired as the dean at Willamette University’s law school located in Salem, Oregon, and assumed the position in July. In 2002, he gave the lecture for private international law at the annual meeting of the Hague Academy of International Law.
Held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, he was the 18th American selected for the honor in the 78 years of the conference.
In Europe he has taught at Universite Paris V and Louvain-1a-Neuve. Other legal work includes law reform for the Oregon Law Commission, Louisiana State Law Institute, and Puerto Rican Academy of Legislation and Jurisprudence.
In 2006, he became president of the American Society of Comparative Law, an organization where he had previously served as Secretary. Symeonides resigned as dean at Willamette in February 2011, effective at the end of the academic year and was to be replaced by Peter Letsou.
Symeonides is also a member of the American Law Institute, Bartolus Society, and Order of the Coif. He has served as president of the Association of American Law Schools section on conflict of laws and as a member of the board of editors to the American Journal of Comparative Law.