Former head of US competition watchdog to teach antitrust law

One of the most respected authorities on antitrust and competition law worldwide will be joining The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London, as Visiting Professor of Global Competition Law and Policy.

As Visiting Professor, Professor Kovacic will contribute substantially to teaching on the School’s LLM in Competition Law starting in September 2015. He will also contribute to the School’s undergraduate module in competition law. 

Professor Kovacic served as a Commissioner of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from January 2006 to October 2011. From March 2008 to March 2009 he served as its Chair. He was General Counsel at the FTC from 2001 to 2004. In 2011 he received the FTC’s Miles W. Kirkpatrick Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In July 2013, Professor Kovacic was appointed as a non-executive director to the Board of the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), as part of the UK Government’s initiative to create a new strengthened and streamlined UK competition regime.

Professor Kovacic is currently Global Competition Professor of Law & Policy and Director of the Competition Law Center at The George Washington University, Washington DC. Previously he was the George Mason University Foundation Professor at the George Mason University School of Law. 

Since 1992, Professor Kovacic has served as an adviser on anti-trust and consumer protection issues to the governments of Armenia, Benin, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Guyana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Panama, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Professor Kovacic looks forward to bringing his considerable knowledge and expertise to King’s:

'King’s offers one of the world’s best competition law programmes. I eagerly look forward to working with its superb community of scholars and students. It’s a fantastic opportunity.'

John Davies, partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and former co-head of the firm’s global antitrust, competition and trade group, commented:  

'Professor Kovacic’s appointment will ensure that King’s maintains its leadership of antitrust teaching in Europe.  Bill is acknowledged to be a real innovator in antitrust thinking and an outstanding teacher.  He has the added advantage of having had senior leadership positions in the US FTC and now at the UK CMA and also having been an advisor on antitrust policy to a number of governments.  The combination of Bill and the current team at King’s will be a powerful one.'

Professor David D. Caron, Dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law, said: 

'Professor Bill Kovacic’s appointment as Visiting Professor is truly outstanding. With such a distinguished career including leadership of one of the world’s most powerful competition regulators, our students and academic faculty will benefit richly from his experience and scholarship.'