wfn.org | BWNS -- Peace expert appointed to university chair

[Baha'i World News Service <bwns@bwc.org>]

Baha'i World News Service
See the story and photograph on the BWNS site at http://news.bahai.org
For more information, contact editor@bahaiworldnews.org

Peace expert appointed to university chair
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND, United States, 16 November 2005 (BWNS) -- A
former senior official with the United States Agency for International
Development, John Grayzel, has been appointed to the Baha'i Chair for
Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States.

Dr. Grayzel will succeed the inaugural holder, Suheil Bushrui, who is
retiring after holding the position since 1993.

Dr. Grayzel, a member of the Baha'i Faith, holds a law degree from
Stanford University and a doctorate in anthropology from the University
of Oregon.

He served for 25 years in the field of international development and
conflict management, tackling senior foreign service assignments for the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

His work took him to Africa, India, and the Philippines, among other
places. He also served in the US Peace Corps.

The Baha'i Chair for Peace is part of the University of Maryland's
Center for International Development and Conflict Management, which
adheres to the belief that "peace building and development-with-justice
are two sides of the same coin."

The Center's director, Jonathan Wilkenfeld, said that Dr. Grayzel, with
his extensive background in conflict management, "will be a good fit
here."

The chancellor of the University of Maryland System, William E. Kirwan,
said that through the chair, the values of the Baha'i Faith resonate on
campus and support the major values and activities at the university.

"This is the first ... Baha'i Chair in existence, and was one of my most
important initiatives as president of the College Park campus," Dr.
Kirwan said.

The mission of the Baha'i Chair for Peace, in part, is to develop
alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict, promote global
education and spiritual awareness, and reflect the beliefs of the Baha'i
world community in building a global society.

(For a story on Professor Bushrui, see
http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=282 )
+

(Reporting by Deborah Leigh Wood for "The American Baha'i".)