Dr. iur. Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann is an attorney-at-law and notary public with his own law firm in St. Gallen and, since 2026, a lecturer in aviation law at the University of Bern. He is a WTI Fellow and the co-founder and co-director of the Swiss Hub for Air and Space Law and Economics (SHALE) at the World Trade Institute. At the University of St.Gallen, he is a Fellow of the Center for Aviation and Space Competence and teaches air and space law in its executive education programmes.
He studied International Affairs as well as Law and Economics at the University of St.Gallen, and History and Sociology at the University of Zurich. His doctoral thesis on aircraft accident investigation under Swiss law received the 2023 award of the Swiss Air & Space Law Association (ASDA/SVLR). His research focuses on Swiss, European and international air and space law, aircraft accident investigation and Just Culture.
Raphael Widmer-Kaufmann is President of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Space and Aviation in Dübendorf and Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Aviation Competence. He is also a commercial pilot and flight instructor.
