John N. Riccardi

John N. Riccardi is Boston University School of Law’s assistant dean for graduate and international programs and director of the Graduate and International Programs Office. As the school’s senior official responsible for international engagements and non-JD activities, he oversees the School’s portfolio of LLM, masters and certificate programs; international relations and institutional partnerships; study abroad initiatives; international dual degree programs and Visiting Scholars Program. He directs BU Law’s LLM in American Law and LLM in Intellectual Property Law Programs and oversees the school’s Office of Executive, Online and Special Initiatives.

Assistant Dean Riccardi received his A.B. cum laude from Harvard College and his JD magna cum laude from BU Law in 1991, where he was an editor of The Boston University Law Review, a G. Joseph Tauro Scholar and a recipient of an American Jurisprudence Prize for his academic achievements.

He began his legal career as an associate in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray, where he specialized in health care law, intellectual property and public financing. He returned to BU Law in 1997, when globalization’s impact on legal education began to accelerate. Several initiatives he launched – including the school’s hybrid (online/residential) executive program; pre-LLM summer Legal English program and Two-Year LLM/Legal English program – were among the first of their kind in the US.

Assistant Dean Riccardi frequently speaks on international legal education topics, drawing on his 20+ years of experience developing, launching and running academic programs that cater to the worldwide market for professional legal services. Most recently, he spoke on “Devising More Formal Standards and Guidelines in Post-Graduate Legal Education” at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law School’s AALS. He has served as Chair of the AALS section on post-graduate legal education and is currently a member of the section’s executive committee.