Samuel D. Heins

Samuel Heins is a retired United States Ambassador to Norway under President Obama and a longtime human rights advocate and attorney. Previously, he served as a senior partner at Heins Mills & Olson, where he led securities fraud and antitrust litigation. 

Heins founded The Advocates for Human Rights and co-founded the Center for Victims of Torture, both internationally active non-governmental organizations. He has served on election monitoring teams in Pakistan and Ukraine, and he has held board roles with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, Ploughshares Fund, PEN America, and Planned Parenthood North Central States. He is a member of the Ambassadors Circle of the National Democratic Institute and the Council of American Ambassadors.

Heins earned his bachelor of arts and juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota and is a recipient of the University of Minnesota’s Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award. He also received the Minnesota Governor’s Award for International Human Rights Activities and the Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award.