2022 Hall of Fame Inductee
Ohio University (1973)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Crane was born on May 29, 1950, in Santa Monica, California.
He attended Ohio University he completed both a Bachelor of Science in History and the Army ROTC program. He graduated and commissioned in 1973.
Crane began his career as an infantry officer and later transitioned to the judge advocate general (JAG) corps. He served for several years as an attorney in special operations, preparing special operators for surgical missions across the globe.
Crane retired on August 1, 1996, after 24 years of service. His military awards and accolades include the Legion of Merit.
Following retirement, Crane transitioned to civilian federal service as the Director of the Office of Intelligence Review, Assistant General Counsel of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Waldemar A, Solf Professor of International Law at the U.S. Army JAG school.
In 2002, then Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annam appointed Crane to the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court of Sierra Leone with the rank of Undersecretary General. Crane was the first American since Justice Robert Jackson at Nuremberg in 1945, to head a war crimes tribunal. He brought about the arrest and indictment of war criminal and former president of Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor.
Since leaving West Africa, Crane has been a leading force in seeking justice for the people of Syria through the Syrian Accountability Project and assisting in the creation of the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for the Republic of Syria. The Syrian Accountability Project is part of the Global Accountability Network (which he founded) that also houses the Yemeni Accountability Project and the Venezuelan Accountability Project, as well as the Uyghur and Ukrainian Accountability Projects. Currently, Crane is assisting the international community in the creation of a Special Tribunal for Ukraine on the Crime of Aggression.
In 2014, Dr. Crane was the co-author of the world famous “Caesar Report” which captured for the first time direct evidence of crimes against humanity being committed by President Assad of Syria against his own citizens.
In 2005, Crane retired from public service and joined the faculty of Syracuse University’s College of Law as Professor of Practice with further service at the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism. He serves on the Board of Advisor’s for the American Bar Association’s International Criminal Court Project.
For his civilian service, Crane received the DoD Distinguished Civilian Service Medal and the Intelligence Community Gold Seal Medallion.
Crane has received numerous academic honors to include an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University and the highest alumni award from Syracuse University, his law school alma mater.
About the Army ROTC Hall of Fame
The ROTC Hall of Fame was established in 2016 as part of the ROTC Centennial celebration. The first class (2016) inducted 326 former ROTC Cadets who had distinguished themselves in their military or civilian career.
The Hall of Fame honors graduates of the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps who have distinguished themselves in military or civilian pursuits. It provides a prestigious and tangible means of recognizing and honoring Army ROTC Alumni who have made lasting, significant contributions to the Nation, the Army and the history and traditions of the Army ROTC Program.
Read more about the 2022 Hall of Fame Inductees.
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