Prof. (Dr.) S. Shanthakumar is the Director, Gujarat National Law University with about 27 years of teaching experience at prestigious universities including Hidayatullah National Law University.

He is an alumnus of Madras University, Chennai, where he earned his graduation, post-graduation and doctorate degree in law. Before joining the legal academia, he had practiced at the Madras High Court for seven years.

His areas of specialization are Environmental Law, Human Rights Law, International Law and Constitutional Law.  He has authored 3 books on Environmental Law and 2 books on Human Rights Law published by LexisNexis, National Law School of India University (CEERA), Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, etc. He has published a number of research articles on contemporary legal issues in various national and international journals and edited volumes. He has presented papers and delivered key note addresses in many national and international conferences in India and abroad.

Recently he was elected to represent South and West Asia at the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law.  Currently, he is the Chair of Environmental Law Study Group of the International Association of Law Schools and Member of the Teaching and Capacity Building Committee of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law.

He is also serving as the Country Focal Point for India for the Asian Development Bank project on Environment and Climate Change Law.

He had executed the Environmental Law Capacity Building Project funded by the World Bank through CEERA, NLSIU; the Law Teaching and Legal Research Skills Project of the British Council and Cardiff University, U.K.

He is also the recipient of prestigious awards like the Environmental Law Champions Development Award from Asian Development Bank, Philippines and the Best Social Scientist Award from the Indian Society of Criminology.

He had travelled around the globe extensively and had the privilege of being invited to deliver lectures at 23 premier Universities in various countries.