A short bio

Back in Switzerland in the early 90s, I lectured clinical and forensic psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Geneva. In 2008, I became the director of the Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch (IUKB) in Sion (Valais) and took charge of its new Children’s rights teaching and research unit. Over several years, we were successful at steering the IUKB into the University of Geneva which, in 2015, created a new Center for Children’s Rights Studies (CIDE). The Center remains based in Sion and I stepped down as Director at the end of 2019, before retiring in 2024.

In 2019, it was a great honor to be elected as Switzerland’s candidate to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and again in 2023 for a second four-year mandate. This has further widened my horizon and allowed me to advocate on the global stage for the rights of children, their protection and wellbeing.

But in the end, my vision has always been to branch out beyond the requirements for a successful academic career and to engage in the community at large as an educator, a health practitioner and in the service of upholding and promoting human rights. 

Despite being a self-proclaimed and recognized workaholic, my focus has been to invest heavily into fatherhood, widen my children’s horizons, and contribute to their future fulfilling lives.