50 for 50 Spotlight: Cameron McCollum

"This is 100% a dream job – the ability to not only engage in human rights and social justice around the world and, at the same time, train another generation to do the same – it's incredible." – Cameron McCollum (JD '17)

This week, we are proud to shine a spotlight on Cameron McCollum, an alumnus of the Class of 2017 and the newly named director of the Sudreau Global Justice Program.

To lead the global justice program into its next chapter was an opportunity and a calling that Cameron knew that he could not refuse.

"It really feels like home. Pepperdine is an amazing, family-oriented place, so to have the opportunity and privilege to come back here and not just be a part of the community and raise our kids here, but to be a part of President Gash's vision for growing the University's reach in the developing world is an honor."

We are proud to welcome one of our own to helm this program at home and abroad for the years to come! Assistant director of the Sudreau Global Justice Program Jenna DeWalt commented, "I cannot express my excitement to have Cameron on our team! His heart and passion for this work and the Pepperdine family is unmatched. We are overjoyed that he's here to lead this program into a season of even greater impact at Pepperdine and around the world."

Cameron's vision for the Sudreau Global Justice Program is to send our law students all around the world to face and engage with injustice head-on: "Our mission," he explains, "is that Pepperdine will become the premier academic institution in the world for human rights and justice related causes in the developing world." To achieve this, the program will broaden its current scope of work in Uganda, grow international partnerships, and expand across Pepperdine.

Cameron graduated magna cum laude in 2017, and since then, has practiced law as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas, Texas. He always knew he would leverage his legal degree in a way that would serve others around the world, so upon graduation, he signed on at the firm that the believed would provide the best training in the year's building up to that work. However, when President Gash took over this year as University President, the opportunity at the law school presented itself in such a way that Cameron describes it as a "clear sign from the Lord" of where he needed to be.

"The reason I came to Pepperdine in the first place was a draw to the global justice program and the work that they were doing around the world," said Cameron. This fall, Cameron, his wife, Abbey, and their son, Ford, packed up and headed for Malibu.