Terry Coonan graduated from the University of Notre Dame, subsequently working in Chile and Central America with torture victims and the families of the disappeared. After studying law on a human rights fellowship at the University of Cincinnati, he was selected for the Justice Department Honors Program, and served for several years advising U.S. judges on immigration and refugee law. He went on to litigate asylum and torture victim protection cases throughout the country.

Professor Coonan has served as the Executive Director of the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights since its founding in 2000. He is an Associate Professor in the FSU College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and has Courtesy Appointments in the FSU Religion Department, the FSU College of Law, and the FSU Film School.

Professor Coonan is one of the designers of the new FSU interdisciplinary major in Human Rights & Social Justice. He teaches courses in International Human Rights Law and in Human Trafficking (FSU Law School), International Human Rights & Film (FSU Film School), Human Rights and State Crime (FSU College of Criminology & Criminal Justice), and Sustainability & Human Rights (FSU College of Entrepreneurship).

He has also done leading work nationally on human trafficking, providing victim care for survivors of sex trafficking and labor trafficking. He has designed and delivered anti-trafficking trainings for the U.S. Department of Justice, the Florida Office of the Attorney General, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Florida Department of Health. Professor Coonan has likewise done extensive work training state judges throughout the country, serving as a lead instructor for the National Judicial College. He serves as a Subject Matter Expert for the Florida Legislature and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as an expert witness in federal human trafficking lawsuits.

Professor Coonan writes and publishes on topics ranging from human trafficking to transitional justice and sustainability and human rights. Under his direction, CAHR continues to litigate pro bono asylum, domestic violence, and trafficking victim cases nationwide.