Elizabeth "Betsy" Andersen is the Executive Director of the Basel Institute on Governance, where she leads the Institute’s strategic direction and oversees its global efforts to counter corruption, strengthen governance and promote integrity in the public and private sectors. She assumed the role in March 2025, following a distinguished career at the intersection of law, justice, governance and international development.
Before joining the Institute, Betsy served as Executive Director of the World Justice Project, a non-profit organisation working internationally to advance the rule of law.
Betsy has a rich legal background spanning academia and practice. Among other roles, she has served as Associate Executive Director of the American Bar Association and Director of its Rule of Law Initiative. She has also served as Executive Director of both the American Society of International Law and Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division.
She is a frequent speaker and widely published author on topics relating to international human rights, transitional justice and rule of law development, and she has served as an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law.
Betsy brings extensive experience working with and serving on the advisory committees and boards of non-profit organisations and associations, including the International Law Institute (U.S.), CEELI Institute (Czech Republic), Misongi (Cameroon) and the ASIL Women in International Law Interest Group (U.S.). She is a member of the American Law Institute and Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Williams College.
For her contributions to advancing the rule of law and international justice, Betsy has been honoured with numerous awards. These include a Williams College Bicentennial Medal, the American Society of International Law Prominent Woman in International Law Award, and the American Bar Association Section of International Law World Order Under Law Award.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in History and Russian Studies from Williams College, a Master in Public Affairs (MPA) from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Yale Law School.