Dr. Rick Halperin, co-founder of Human Rights Dallas, has been the Director of the SMU Human Rights Program since its inception in 2006. It is the only university human rights program in the South and one of only 9 in the country.
Dr. Halperin has held many leadership positions in human rights and social justice organizations. During his more than 50-year affiliation with Amnesty International USA, he has served as chair of its board of directors three times. He has also served on the boards of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Center for Survivors of Torture, the International Rescue Committee and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He has participated in a U.N. human rights delegation that inspected Irish prison conditions in Dublin and Belfast, as well as in delegations monitoring human rights in El Salvador and Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza.
Halperin holds degrees in Southern U.S. History from Auburn University (PhD, 1978), Southern U.S. History from Southern Methodist University (MA, 1974), and U.S. History from George Washington University (BA, 1971). He also studied at The Sorbonne in Paris (1968-1969).