Published: 11/03/25
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Professor David Forman ’93 Performs Prominent Role in Abu Dhabi, UAE
HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi (Nov. 3, 2025) — Professor David M. Forman ’93 recently returned from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he served as Election Officer with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) during its World Conservation Congress (WCC) held October 9–15, 2025. Sometimes referred to as the “Olympics of Conservation,” this event is held every four years at locations around the globe (including Honolulu in 2016 and Marseilles, France in 2021 delayed by COVID).
Originally appointed by the IUCN Council in May 2024, Prof. Forman and Deputy Election Officer Claudia S. de Windt (CEO, The Inter-American Institute for Justice and Sustainability) received high praise for their collaborative leadership and excellence in jointly managing IUCN’s complex election and motions processes, earning commendation from IUCN Director General Dr. Grethel Aguilar; IUCN President Dr. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak (re-elected to serve a second term); other IUCN Councillors; as well as IUCN’s voting members.
“Professor David Forman and Deputy Election Officer Claudia S. de Windt played an essential role in ensuring that IUCN’s first fully online elections were conducted with transparency, fairness, and integrity,” said IUCN Director General Dr. Grethel Aguilar. “Their leadership and commitment to upholding the Union’s democratic principles strengthened trust in our governance processes and set a powerful precedent for future Congresses.”
The 2025 WCC represented the first time in IUCN’s history that votes for both the motions and elections processes were conducted exclusively online. An additional challenge resulted from the fact that IUCN Secretariat staff who served as Managers for the Members Assembly and Accreditation processes, respectively, undertook those roles for the first time at the 2025 Congress. The Election Officers rendered a historic number of rulings on a wide array of legal issues that arose during the extended process, steadfastly applying principles of non-discrimination and freedom of expression while ensuring the integrity of both the elections and motions processes consistent with applicable statutes, rules, and regulations.
In a post on LinkedIn following the Congress, Deputy Election Officer de Windt opined: “in a time in which democracy is in crisis in many parts of the world, democracy thrives at #IUCN so nature and people can continue to take center stage.”
Professor David M. Forman capped off a nearly 17-month appointment as Election Officer during the 2025 World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. IUCN President Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak observed that this role is “no doubt one of the most important officers of the IUCN Congress” requiring supervision of electronic voting system for both elections as well as motions and, thus, is “key to ensuring the essential governance processes of our Union.”
View the official IUCN Congress 2025 Election Results Presentation (PDF)
ELP Co-Director and Professor of Law David M. Forman (’93) also took a break from his duties as Election Officer to participate on a “Deep Dive Session” panel during the Forum at the 2025 World Conservation Congress, entitled “From Classroom to Congress: Engaging Youth in International Environmental Policy-Making.”
Professor Emerita Denise Antolini, who served as IUCN Election Officer in 2020 and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2011 to 2019, praised Forman’s achievement as both a professional and institutional milestone.
“David’s service as Election Officer for the IUCN World Congress was a global honor for Richardson and the Environmental Law Program,” said Antolini. “Overseeing world-wide elections for IUCN requires ethical interpretation of complex voting rules, diplomacy among high-level stakeholders, and clear communication across thousands of members. As a former election officer, I know how challenging this work is—and how rare it is to play such an important role in a global organization. I am so very proud of David for his service to the world and to conservation.”
About William S. Richardson School of Law
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