The ICAL Outstanding Alumni

Since 2014, the ICAL AA awards the "Outstanding ICAL Alumni Award" to one member of the ICAL alumni community to recognize her or his achievements in the field of law, as well as professional and scholarly excellence that serves as inspiration to the ICAL community.  The recipient is peer-selected by the ICAL alumni community.

  • Kevin Nash - 2023

    Kevin serves as registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Over the course of the past decade, Kevin has overseen the administration of thousands of international cases under all versions of the SIAC Rules and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.

    Recognised for being ‘truly exceptional in his passion for, and knowledge of, international arbitration’, Kevin is listed by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader and National Leader for Southeast Asia in international arbitration. Described as a ‘rock star of arbitration’ and ‘a calm presence and a safe pair of hands for the most complex matters’, peers and clients say that he is ‘without equal in the region, in terms of institutional knowledge and expertise in international arbitration’ and that ‘no one knows more about arbitration in Singapore’.

  • Polina Permyakova- 2022

    Polina is a Partner with Advokatfirman Delphi in Stockholm, where she focuses her practice on international arbitration matters. She acts as counsel, arbitrator and legal expert and holds law degrees in Russia and Sweden (including from the LLM in International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICAL) at Stockholm University program in 2006). Polina is also the immediate past Chair of the ICAL AA Board and has devoted herself to the success of the Association and our members for many years. We're honored to have Polina as a fellow alum and share our warmest congratulations!

  • Fabricio Fortese - 2021

    Fabricio is a doctoral candidate and lecturer at Stockholms universitet, is editor of the recently published Arbitration in Argentina (Kluwer 2020) and will be a visiting Scholar at Colombia Law School this fall. He is praised as a much appreciated and supportive teacher and a dedicated VIS coach.

  • Sherling Tung - 2021

    Sherlin is a partner in the international arbitration and litigation team at Withers in Hong Kong. She has been one of the most active alumni in the ICAL program, is President of the Vis Moot Alumni Association and co-editor of Finances in International Arbitration (Kluwer 2019) (with Fabricio and ICAL alum Dr Crina Baltag) and The Powers and Duties of an Arbitrator (Kluwer 2017) (with Patricia Shaughnessy, founder of the LLM in International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICAL) at Stockholm University program).

  • Gretta Walters - 2019

    Gretta Walters was chosen as the ICAL Alumni Association’s 2019 Outstanding Alumna, for her dedication to professional and scholarly excellence. Gretta's professional achievements in the field of arbitration, including the advancement of research in the field though academic publications and her continuous support and dedication to the ICAL program ever since her studies in the program, first as a student coach of the Vis team and thereafter as a guest lecturer and an overseas speaker at ICAL seminars and conferences, inspire the entire ICAL family and make us all proud of being part of it.

  • Pirkka-Marja Põldvere- 2018

    Pirkka-Marja Põldvere was elected as Outstanding ICAL Alumna for her dedication to professional and scholarly excellence. But beyond professional accomplishments, Pirkka brings support and instills inspiration among our alumni with enthusiasm and devotion. These are values dear to the ICAL community.

  • Herman Manuel Duarte - 2017

    Herman Duarte was elected as Outstanding Alumnus for his efforts to defend human rights and in particular for his promotion of same sex couples' equal rights to marriage in El Salvador and Costa Rica. He presented a constitutional challenge to local legislation that prohibits same sex couples to marry and in 2016 he founded igualitos.as, a non profit organization that aims at promoting equality and civil rights. Igualitos was a critical player for same sex marriage to become a reality in Costa Rica in the year 2018. He published a book on discrimination and has become an authority in the field of human rights and rule of law in Latin America.

  • Oveis Rezvanian - 2016

    Dr. Oveis Rezvanian, was elected as Outstanding ICAL Alumnus, for his numerous achievements in the field of arbitration, including his leading role as Director of Tehran Regional Arbitration Center (TRAC).

  • Crina Baltag - 2015

    Dr. Crina Baltag, former Secretary General of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the American Chamber of. Commerce Brazil - São Paulo (AMCHAM) was chosen as the Outstanding ICAL Alumna. We are also proud to share that 5 years since she was chose, Dr. Baltag is currently the co-director of The ICAL Program. Crina’s academic work includes the leading publications on The Energy Charter Treaty: The Notion of Investor [Wolters Kluwer, 2012]; ICSID Convention after 50 Years: Unsettled Issues [Wolters Kluwer, 2017]; Construction Arbitration in Central and Eastern Europe: Contemporary Issues [co-editor, Wolters Kluwer, 2019]; Finances in International Arbitration. Liber Amicorum for Patricia Shaughnessy [co-editor, Wolters Kluwer, 2019]; The Future of Investment Treaty Arbitration in the EU [co-editor, Wolters Kluwer, 2020] and numerous publications in leading legal journals and reviews, including on the Denial of Benefits in Investment Law [co-author; Max Planck Encyclopaedia of International Procedural Law , Oxford University Press, 2019].

    Crina is the editor of Kluwer Arbitration Blog, co-managing editor of ITA Arbitration Report and member of editorial boards of prestigious journals and book series in the field, including of the Journal of International Arbitration, the European Investment Law and Arbitration Review, Hart: Global Energy Law and Policy, and World Trade & Arbitration Materials.

  • Manuel Arroyo- 2014

    Manuel Arroyo is a partner of Eversheds Sutherland in Switzerland. Over the past two decades, Manuel has acted in over 100 international commercial arbitrations as counsel or arbitrator. His prior experience includes, inter alia, over ten years as a partner in two business law firms, five years as an associate and several years as a law clerk at the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Manuel is the editor and co-author of the most comprehensive treatise on arbitration in Switzerland, Arbitration in Switzerland - The Practitioner's Guide. He is the author of more than 50 publications and has been a speaker at over 30 international arbitration conferences.