Dr David Padilla is an American lawyer and visiting law professor at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria and Silliman University College of Law, the Philippines. He has earned degrees in law, international relations and public administration from the Universities of Detroit, Pennsylvania, Harvard and the George Washington University. For many years he was the assistant executive secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He was awarded an LLD (causa honoris) by the University of Pretoria in 2015 in recognition of his work on behalf of human rights.