Biography

An expert in international law and legal institutions, Thomas C. Heller has focused his research on the rule of law, international climate control, global energy use, and the interaction of government and nongovernmental organizations in establishing legal structures in the developing world. He has created innovative courses on the role of law in transitional and developing economies, as well as the comparative study of law in developed economies. He directs the law school’s Rule of Law Program, as well as the Stanford Program in International Law. Professor Heller has been a visiting professor at the European University Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, and Hong Kong University, and has served as the deputy director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, where he is now a senior fellow. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1979, he was a professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School and an attorney-advisor to the governments of Chile and Colombia.

Professor Heller is a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Woods Institute for the Environment.

Key Works

• Thomas C. Heller and Erik G. Jensen, editors, Beyond Common Knowledge: Empirical Approaches to the Rule of Law, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003. 456 pages.
• Thomas C. Heller, P. R. Shukla, “Development and Climate: Engaging Developing Countries” in Beyond Kyoto: Advancing the International Effort Against Climate Change, J. E. Aldy et al., Eds. (Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA).
• Thomas C. Heller, Modernity, Membership, and Multiculturalism, 5 Stanford Humanities Review 2 (1997).
• Thomas C. Heller, Structuralism and Critique, 36 Stanford Law Review 127-198 (1984).
• Thomas C. Heller, Is the Charitable Exemption from the Property Tax an Easy Case? General Concerns about Law and Economics, in Essays on the Law and Economics of Local Governments, D.L . Rubinfeld Ed. (COUPE Papers on Public Economics, Urban Institute), 1979.

In the News

• Stanford Awards $1 Million To Research Teams
  Palo Alto Online, March 12, 2008

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Climate Change Workshop
• Corruption, Governance, and the International System
• International Business Transactions I: Legal Practice in Developing Countries
• Law and Development in India

Programs

• Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP), Lewis Talbot and Nadine Hearn Shelton Professor of International Legal Studies
• Rule of Law Program, Co-Director
• Stanford Program in International Law, Co-Director

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Thomas C. Heller, Diversifier la Production Electrique en Chine, in Regards Sur la Terre 2007, Pierre Jacquet and Laurence Tubiana, eds., Paris: Les Presses Sciences Po, 2007.
• David Victor and Thomas C. Heller, eds., The Political Economy of Power Sector Reform: The Experiences of Five Major Developing Countries, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
• Thomas C. Heller, African Transitions and the Resource Curse: An Alternative Perspective, 26 Economic Affairs 24 (2006).
• Thomas C. Heller, Diversifying Power Generation in China, in Bringing Developing Countries into the Energy Equation, Michel Colombier and Jacques Loup, eds., Paris: Institut du Developpement Durable et des Relations Internationales, 2006.
• Thomas C. Heller, C. Zhang, P.R. Shukla, David Victor, D. Biswas and T. Nag, Baselines for Carbon Emissions in the Indian and Chinese Power Sectors: Implications for International Carbon Trading, 34 Energy Policy 1900 (2006).
• David Victor and Thomas C. Heller, Reforming Electric Power Markets in Developing Countries: Politics, Law and Institutions, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
• Thomas C. Heller. Carbon Intensity of Electricity Generation and CDM Baseline: Case Studies of Three Chinese Provinces, 33 ENERGY POLICY 451 (2004). (with Chi Zhang and Michael M. May)
• Thomas C. Heller. ELECTRICITY REFORMS IN INDIA: FIRM CHOICES AND EMERGING GENERATION MARKETS, New Dehli: Tata McGraw Hill, 2004. (with P.R. Shukla, David Victor, Debashish Biswas, Tirthankar Nag and Amee Yajnik)
• Thomas C. Heller. Global Standards, Global Growth? in GLOBAL STANDARDS AND THE RULE OF LAW, Seoul, Korea: Pakyoungsa Publishing, 2004.
• Thomas C. Heller and Erik G. Jensen, editors, Beyond Common Knowledge: Empirical Approaches to the Rule of Law, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003. 456 pages.

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Member, Center for Development, Democracy, and the Rule of Law
• Member, Program in Energy and Sustainable Development
• Member, Advisory Board, Revenue Watch Institute (Open Society Institute)