Convocation: Kevin Clements

Kevin Clements is the Foundation Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies and Director of the New Zealand Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association. Prior to taking up these positions he was the Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Foundation Director of the Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland in Australia. He had previously served as Secretary General of International Alert, one of the world’s largest NGO's working on conflict transformation in Africa, the Caucasus, Asia and Latin America. He has also been Professor of Conflict Resolution and Director of the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia and head of the Peace Research Centre at the Australian National University. Clements' career has been a combination of academic analysis and practice in the areas of peace building and conflict transformation. He was formerly Director of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva and a member of the New Zealand Delegation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. Clements has been an advisor on defense, security and conflict issues to a range of governmental and non-governmental organizations in Australasia, the United States and Europe. Over the past two decades, he has served as chairman, facilitator and keynote speaker at many international peace and conflict resolution conferences. The title of his presentation was "Enlarging Boundaries of Compassion: Opportunities and Challenges for Peace Research in the 21st Century."