One of the pleasures of returning to Singapore is the chance to carry earlier conversations forward and introduce colleagues who bring new perspectives to them. Our recent Penn State University delegation built on relationships developed over previous visits, exploring how we can work together in ways that benefit students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Meetings with universities, legal institutions, law firms, and industry partners covered student internships and exchanges, collaborative research and teaching, professional education, and the changes AI is bringing to legal practice. Traveling with colleagues from across Penn State helped connect these discussions with expertise and interests beyond the law school. For Penn State Dickinson Law, these relationships help connect our teaching and scholarship with international practice. For the wider University, they offer avenues for collaboration across law, AI, data science, and business. The conversations were richer because colleagues could ask different questions and recognize possibilities outside their own fields. I was particularly glad to gather with Penn State alumni and friends in Singapore. Our alumni are an important part of this work, bringing their experience, local knowledge, and relationships to the conversation. It was a pleasure to hear their stories and spend time together. The hospitality throughout the week meant a great deal: the care that went into arranging our visits, the openness of our discussions, and the welcome around so many tables. Thank you to my fellow delegates, Ángela Sánchez Gago, LL.M. | Guido Cervone | Joe Rively | Larry Catá Backer | Tom Lee | Scott Frank | Jing He | Lily Xue Dong, and to the colleagues whose support made the trip possible, including our former, acting, and interim deans Danielle Conway | Laura H. Williams | Sarah J. Williams, as well as our colleagues Josh Trego | Jessica Seretti. I have thanked our hosts and counterparts individually in the comments. I am grateful for the time and thought they shared with us. We returned with friendships renewed, new colleagues to work with, and a clear priority: following through on these conversations so that more of our Penn State community can take part.

A productive week in Australia, anchored by the IPSANZ - The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand Inc. Annual Conference and a series of conversations that I hope will continue to strengthen connections across the region. At IPSANZ, I participated in two sessions on intellectual property, technology, and AI, building on relationships developed through the Hansen IP Institute at Fordham and exchanging perspectives with judges, academics, practitioners, and other leaders in the IP community. Many thanks to IPSANZ President Ian Horak KC and his team for the invite. The conference was also part of a broader week of relationship-building, including opportunities for exchange at Melbourne Law School's Francis Gurry Lecture featuring incoming Master of the Rolls Sir Colin Birss. [Watch my recent Penn State Dickinson Law Profiles in Leadership interview with Lord Justice Birss here: https://lnkd.in/gjUGtJQZ] Australia is grappling with many of the same questions that occupy us at in the U.S. around AI, innovation, competition, and technology governance, but sometimes with different doctrinal, cultural, and institutional starting points. Those comparative perspectives sharpen our own thinking and can feed directly into research and teaching. Just as importantly, sustained international relationships can create opportunities for faculty collaboration, visiting speakers, comparative research, student engagement, and institutional partnerships. They also help ensure that Penn State is not simply observing international conversations about the future of law and technology, but contributing to them. That exchange runs both ways. I returned with new perspectives and ideas, and had the opportunity to share some of the work taking place at Penn State Dickinson Law and across Penn State University with colleagues in Australia. Many thanks to IPSANZ and to the many colleagues who were so generous with their time, ideas, and hospitality. I look forward to continuing these conversations. Emily C. and John E. Hansen IP Institute at Fordham Law School | University of Technology Sydney | UNSW | Macquarie University | Deborah Healey | Weihuan Zhou | Lyria Bennett Moses | Alexandra George | Joseph Ng | May Fong Cheong | Michael Handler | David Yates | Michael Williams | John Lee | Colin Birss | Isabella Alexander | Sarah Tiffen | Andrew Fox SC | Alida Stanley | Joel Barrett | Rita Matulionyte | John Swinson | Isobel Patmore | Sally Davitt | Gillian Woon (云美卿) | Katarina Klaric | Ian Gault | Natalie Harre | Duncan Longstaff | The Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC FAA FAAL

Pleased to share the latest episode of the Penn State Dickinson Law Profiles in Leadership series, featuring Sir Colin Birss, Chancellor of the High Court of England and Wales and incoming Master of the Rolls. This may be Sir Colin’s first interview as incoming Master of the Rolls, offering a rare opportunity to hear directly from him about the experiences that have shaped his approach to judging and leadership, and what we might expect as he prepares to assume one of the most important judicial offices in England and Wales. His path to that role has been anything but conventional. He began by studying metallurgy and materials science at Cambridge and working with computers before building a distinguished career in intellectual property practice and then on the bench. Those experiences have given him a distinctive perspective on how courts should respond to technological change without losing sight of the craft of judging. Sir Colin reflects on why curiosity matters, why judges should seek to understand technology rather than be intimidated by it, and why institutions must be willing to experiment when better ways of working become possible. We also discuss the transition from advocate to judge, what makes advocacy effective from the other side of the bench, the people and experiences that shaped him, and the responsibilities that come with leading a judicial institution. What emerges is a thoughtful view of leadership grounded not in preserving established ways of doing things for their own sake, but in understanding what institutions are there to accomplish and being prepared to improve how they accomplish it. As Sir Colin prepares to become Master of the Rolls, this conversation offers an unusually timely window into the outlook he will bring to that role. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/gjUGtJQZ View past episodes of Profiles in Leadership here: https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/faculty/profiles-in-leadership Justin Kulp HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS)