Barbara A. Frey

Barbara A. Frey, J.D., is an international human rights scholar, teacher, and activist. She directed the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota from 2001-2022 and served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Master of Human Rights from 2015-2019. Her research interests include gun violence and human rights, disappearances and impunity in Mexico, immigration, and human rights advocacy. She lectures and writes widely on these topics. She has served in various positions in non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations as well as academic institutions. She was an alternate member of the U.N. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2000-2003) and was Special Rapporteur for a Sub-Commission study on firearms and human rights (2001-2006). She received two Fulbright-Garcia Robles fellowships (2013 and 2019) for research on human rights in Mexico. From 1985 through 1996 she was Executive Director of Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.