Myanna Dellinger


Myanna Dellinger, is a Danish-American law professor, climate change and international law specialist, and Fulbright Scholar.

Early life

Myanna Dellinger was born and raised in Denmark. Her blue-collar parents only received seven years of education. Dellinger was the first member of her family to receive a university education. Her early life interests included reading and numerous outdoor activities such as horseback riding, bike riding, and learning about the environment.

Education

Dellinger received B.A. and M.Sc. degrees from the Aarhus Business School, now Aarhus University, ranked in the top 100 by several influential rankings among over 17,000 universities world-wide. She studied law at the University of Oregon School of Law, graduating first in her class in 2008. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of South Dakota, expecting to complete her dissertation in 2021 or earlier.

Career

International communications specialist

Myanna Dellinger enjoyed a successful first career in international communications. She taught English for Science and Technology at the master's degree level in Denmark as well as English as a Second Language for the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Long Beach. She also started, grew, and operated a localization and interpretation agency working with such clients as DreamWorks Pictures, Warner Bros. Studios, and major law firms in California, Texas, and New York. She personally translated and interpreted in projects such as multi-million-dollar patent infringement lawsuits, the Holocaust survivors class action lawsuit against Swiss banks, Shrek and Harry Potter.

Law clerk and law professor

After law school, Myanna Dellinger clerked for the late Hon. Frances J. D’Eramo of the United States Virgin Islands Superior Court and the late Hon. Procter Ralph Hug Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She proceeded to become a law professor at two different ABA-accredited California law schools before accepting a position as Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Dakota School of Law. She specializes in human rights law, public and private international law, and business law. Her research focuses on climate change prevention as well as public and private financial liability for damages caused by extreme weather events. She has also written on the potential adverse effects of trophy hunting to threatened and endangered species.

Awards & research results

Myanna Dellinger earned the honorary title “Order of the Coif” by graduating in the top 10% of her law school class. In 2016, Dellinger was awarded a Fulbright specialist grant in law to conduct research and to lecture at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. Dellinger later became a peer reviewer for the National Science Foundation. Dellinger's work has been cited by, among numerous others, American judges, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the OECD. She has been on the top 10% of the most downloaded authors worldwide on SSRN since 2017.

Personal life

Professor Dellinger is fluent in English, Danish, and German. She has visited approximately 37 nations for both work and pleasure. She has lived in four different states in the U.S., as well as on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She enjoys reading, watching movies, and learning more about people while socializing. She is an avid hiker, bike rider, and swimmer.

Selected works