May 26, 2009 -- If Indonesia someday has a new, world-class law school, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law can claim partial credit. That’s because Sigit Ardianto, a graduate of Cardozo’s LLM program and a Dean’s Merit Scholar, was inspired by his classes and professors to take his new knowledge back home to Jakarta and work for improvements in legal education and the legal system there. “My dream is to establish a new progressive law school in Indonesia that could meet international legal education standards, and perhaps mimic Cardozo’s success,” said Ardianto. A 2003 law graduate of the State University of Padjadjaran in West Java, Ardianto was an associate at DNC Law in Jakarta and an emerging legal scholar in his homeland before coming to Cardozo. He was most influenced during his year at Cardozo by Michel Rosenfeld, the Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights, whom he calls “brilliant,” and by Rosenfeld’s Comparative Constitutionalism course. A Muslim, Ardianto enjoyed Professor David Bleich’s Introduction to Jewish Law course, finding some surprising similarities between Jewish and Islamic religious law. He was also impressed by Professor Marci Hamilton’s First Amendment course, which motivated him to do more in raising awareness of the need for “constitutional complaint” in Indonesia, and which he hopes to use as a model for a similar class in Indonesia. His greatest accomplishment at Cardozo? “As a person from a relatively modest background, being able to pursue a master’s degree in such a fine school,” Ardianto said. “And doing it in the greatest city in the world.” Next profile: Wurzweiler graduate Jeremy Antar changes course from media ad sales to social work.