Christopher Michaelsen is a Full Professor and the Director of Research in the School of Law at Western Sydney University, specialising in international law, human rights, security and global governance. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Law at the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" (LUISS) in Rome, Italy.

Chris previously held a tenured position in the Faculty of Law & Justice at UNSW Sydney. Prior to joining academia, he served as a Human Rights Officer at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland. He has held visiting and adjunct appointments at the University of Hong Kong, Brooklyn Law School, the University of Sannio (Benevento), the Australian National University, Akita International University and the University of St. Andrews.

Chris is a founding member of the Security Council Analysis Network (SCAN), a former Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Human Rights and is currently serving on the Council of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL). He is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project "Shaping International Law in Global Transformations: Australian Experiences" (2023-27) with Madelaine Chiam (La Trobe), Jordana Silverstein (Melbourne) and Jeremy Farrall (ANU). He was the Lead Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery Project "Leverage and Influence on the UN Security Council" (2016-22) with Jeremy Farrall (ANU), Jochen Prantl (ANU) and Jeni Whalan (UQ) and director of the Australia Japan Foundation-funded project "Operationalising Human Rights in Peace Missions" (2015-16).

Chris possesses over 20 years of teaching experience in international law, human rights, global governance and international security at undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as in executive education. In 2021, he received the UNSW Vice-Chancellor's Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching in recognition of his “exceptional dedication to student learning and the student experience over five or more years".