Professor David J. Aronofsky

David Aronofsky has worked internationally and throughout the U.S. as an educator and attorney for nearly 50 years.  After finishing his Ph.D. he joined the Peace Corps in Chile to plan the restructuring of two universities, advise Chile’s University Presidents Council and Education Ministry on policy, and teach as a Comparative Education professor.  He then collaborated on education consulting projects throughout Latin America before returning to the U.S. for his law degree. He joined the Washington, D.C. Arent Fox law firm, where he specialized in international law, government relations and education law, becoming prominent in special education advocacy.  After 12 years there he became The University of Montana General Counsel, a faculty member in the Schools of Law and Education, and large overseas projects coordinator.  He took many students on faculty-led courses to Latin America and Asia, and his regular courses included Public International Law, International Business & Trade Law, Technology Law, Education/ Higher Education Law, and Legislation (resulting in some 130 student-drafted new Montana laws).  Following his 2013 Montana retirement he became the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) Vice-President in Austin, Texas, where he spent several years developing and directing international education programs before retiring.  Dr. Aronofsky has taught and lectured at dozens of universities in Latin America and China.  As a multiple Fulbright Scholar and Specialist awards recipient, he served as legal advisor to Chile’s first elected post-dictatorship Congress; taught law and business courses in Honduras and Uruguay; and evaluated Uruguay’s graduate school principal certification program.  Since 2001, he has been a visiting law faculty member every year at the University of Montevideo in Uruguay, where he has also taught at the Catholic University.  His scholarly activities include numerous international and educational law articles, as well as co-authorship of two education law books.  He has a Ph.D. in Education from Florida State University; a J.D. and B.S. in Education from The University of Texas at Austin; and the M.Ed. in Counseling from Southern Methodist University.  Since retiring from TIEC he has directed several TIEC projects on contract, including annual Uruguay education training programs.  He currently accepts a limited number of other education and legal consulting projects, as well as short-term academic appointments.  His volunteer activities include law reform projects as an elected American Law Institute Member; serving on the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health Collaborative Council; and chairing the Texas International Law Journal Alumni Board. He resides in Missoula, Montana.