Professor Profile: Gustavo Ribeiro
New Professor Hopes to Inspire Curiosity and Prepare the Next Generation of Lawyers to Combat Misinformation
American University Washington College of Law is pleased to welcome Gustavo Ribeiro to the faculty as an Assistant Professor for the 2023 Fall semester. He joins the faculty from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University in North Carolina, where he served as an Assistant Professor.
Gustavo was raised in Rio de Janeiro and got his LLB from Fundação Getulio Vargas before getting his LLM and SJD from Harvard. After graduating law school, he served as a clerk for William G. Young in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts for one year before becoming litigator at Greenberg Traurig in Boston. While he has experience outside of academia, Gustavo "always wanted to teach" and took a job as a professor at Campbell University, believing his real-world experience would make him a better professor.
Having been inspired by his own professors, Gustavo hopes to instill a sense of rigor and curiosity in his students, inspiring them to find a subject they are passionate about and how they can impact that subject.
"It's always rewarding to see a student finding a topic or problem or particular issue, they become interested and involved in, then figuring it out and coming up with solutions, ideas, or just questions," Gustavo said.
His scholarly work includes writing on evidence law, standards of proof, expert evidence, and civil procedure. Increasingly, Gustavo has been writing about how lawyers must use persuasion techniques to counter misinformation.
"I you look at a juror in jury system, they have potentially been exposed to similar persuasion techniques that are used in spreading misinformation," he said. "We are still trying to figure out how to deal with it. As a legal system, we are hoping to find the optimal tools to fight misinformation."
American University Washington College of Law takes pride in fighting for social equality and promoting international development, something Gustavo says he is excited to contribute to as well.
"I grew up in South America, and American ties with the region and with world organizations, I feel like I could be a part of that effort and make a contribution to that as well," Gustavo said.
Story by Brice Helms.