From Student to Professor: Adam Gogeun’s Journey Back to Seton Hall
Monday, October 13, 2025
Professor Adam Gogeun’s path from Seton Hall University student to faculty member
is a story that comes full circle. Currently, he teaches Introduction to Law and Legal
Research I and Legal Foundations of Business. Next semester he’ll be teaching classes
focusing on the Common Law and Statutory law.
Professor Gogeun’s journey at Seton Hall began as an undergraduate student in the School of Diplomacy, where he first aspired to join the US Foreign Service. However, once in the program, his interests evolved. “I became interested in the United Nations,” he explained, “and this ultimately led to an eleven-year career working on law reform and legal education in Africa.” His career took him to Sierra Leone and South Sudan, where he helped establish law schools and advance legal reform and capacity-building initiatives through his work with the United Nations Development Programme and the International Development Law Organization.
Teaching became a passion for Gogeun while he was in law school. He recalls his first experience as an instructor during law school, when he joined a student club that taught local high school students about the law. “Watching other people become excited about topics you find fascinating is a joy,” he said. “Helping students as they plan their early career is extremely rewarding.” Returning to Seton Hall as a professor feels particularly meaningful to him. “Teaching at Seton Hall is a special blessing,” he added. “Students in the School of Diplomacy are motivated by the same ideas that motivated me as a student.”
Gogeun’s research interests stem from his professional experiences abroad. He focuses on post-colonial law reform and legal pluralism, the operation of multiple legal systems within one jurisdiction. “This really focuses on how different countries have incorporated traditional institutions and laws into modern governance,” he explained. His expertise in this area offers a unique perspective to students learning how law, governance and diplomacy intersect on the global stage.
When asked how he hopes to inspire his students, Professor Goguen answered, “I hope to inspire my students at Seton Hall to believe in themselves and to be ambitious about their career plans.” He encourages them not to settle for the familiar but to pursue their aspirations with conviction. “There are a thousand great careers waiting for graduates, but students need to be encouraged to dream, and then to lay concrete plans to pursue them,” he said. “It’s so easy to take a job that pays the bills, but if you want to work with the United Nations, as an advisor to governments, or in any other ‘dream role,’ you need to actively pursue it.”
Through his teaching, research and example, Professor Adam Gogeun demonstrates the power of education and ambition, values that first took root at Seton Hall and now continue to flourish in his own classroom.
