Mario Castillón is the recipient of a 2018-2019 MD Anderson Postgraduate Fellowship in Transnational Law from the Institute for Transnational Law at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The fellowship is funded with generous support from the MD Anderson Foundation. Starting on September 1, 2018, Mario will spend a year working at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, D.C. At Texas Law, Mario served on the Texas Hispanic Journal of Law & Policy. He also participated in the Law School’s Immigration Clinic. In 2016, he interned at the Law Offices of Ernesto Gamez Jr., P.C. in Brownsville, Texas, where he assisted on civil and criminal cases.
The IACHR is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (“OAS”) whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere. It is composed of seven independent members who serve in a personal capacity. Created by the OAS in 1959, the Commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Court” or “the I/A Court H.R.), installed in 1979, the Commission is one of the institutions within the inter-American system for the protection of human rights (“IAHRS”).
The Institute for Transnational Law launched the fellowship program to expand its vital work of transnational legal education by expanding career opportunities for distinguished recent Texas Law J.D. graduates, both domestically and internationally. This program, with funding from of the MD Anderson Foundation, makes it possible for recent graduates to gain valuable work experience abroad in the international legal, business, and public service arenas. These MD Anderson Fellows are part of an elite group of legal professionals.