The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University has announced that Professor Achinthi Vithanage has received the 2025 Ottinger Award for Faculty Achievement. This annual award, given by the Faculty Development Committee in consultation with the Dean, recognizes a full-time professor for outstanding service to the law school or the legal profession.
Professor Katrina Fischer Kuh, chair of the Faculty Development Committee, stated: “Achinthi Vithanage is a recognized and respected leader in the field of environmental law, both nationally and internationally. Her work with the IUCN and the ABA Section on Energy & Environmental Law (SEER) has been inspirational and effective and through this she continuously strives to identify and create substantive opportunities for students to gain meaningful experience. Achinthi is a role model not just to our students and faculty at Pace Haub Law, but more broadly throughout the field and academic community. We are proud to honor her and her service with this recognition in the form of the Ottinger Award for Faculty Achievement.”
Harrison Bench, a student in Pace’s JD/MEM dual degree program with Yale School of the Environment, commented on Professor Vithanage’s influence: “Professor Vithanage is not only an ardent and knowledgeable instructor, but also a dedicated mentor to and advocate for her students. She helped me secure two separate legal internships, introduced me to ABA SEER’s Environmental Law Society Network, and allowed me to take her Advanced International Environmental Law seminar so that I could participate in the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress. Her commitment to networking, real-world opportunities, and experiential learning makes Professor Vithanage an invaluable member of the Pace Haub Law faculty and Environmental Law Program.”
Professor Vithanage is noted as one of the leading environmental and energy lawyers in the country. She was listed in LawDragon’s inaugural Environmental and Energy Lawyers list in 2021 as well as its 500 Leading Environmental Lawyers Guides from 2023 through 2025. At SEER she serves on its Governing Council (2023-2025), leads several task forces including those focused on law student transitions and sustainability in legal education, co-chairs networks such as the Environmental Law Society Network, has chaired international committees, serves on editorial boards for key publications in environmental law, sits on several nonprofit boards related to conservation or sustainable business law, attends major climate conferences such as COP28 and COP30 as an American Bar Association delegate, co-leads research initiatives like Climate Change Collaborative Research Network for The Law & Society Association, participates actively within international organizations including IUCN’s Academy of Environmental Law Secretariat and World Commission on Environmental Law.
Before joining Pace Haub Law School, Professor Vithanage taught at George Washington University Law School. Her background includes being born in Sri Lanka; living in countries such as United Arab Emirates; practicing law in New South Wales (NSW), Australia; studying across Australia, Japan, China, Spain, United States; working at NSW’s Energy & Water Ombudsman; practicing corporate/commercial/property law sectors in Sydney.
The Ottinger Award is named after Richard L. Ottinger—former U.S. House Representative who served eight terms between 1965–1971/1975–1985—and former Dean of Pace’s law school from 1994–1999. He founded what is now known as the Pace Energy & Climate Center.
