Presenting Sponsor

Bernard Amadei is the Founding President of Engineers Without Borders - USA.   He is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prof. Amadei's current interests cover the topics of sustainability and international development. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, Prof. Amadei directs a new program in Engineering for Developing Communities. Its overall mission is to educate globally responsible engineering students and professionals who can offer sustainable and appropriate solutions to the endemic problems faced by developing communities worldwide.

Peace Fact: Prof. Amadei's work is driven by compassion and action and a commitment to empower positively those at the bottom of the pyramid: 4 billion people whose job is to stay alive at the end of the day. Engineering with a human face and a human heart is needed more than ever in the world today. Engineers are called to play a critical role in contributing to peace and security in an increasingly challenged world. Prof. Amadei is currently involved in a shelter project in Palestine. He is also involved in community projects in Afghanistan, Peru, Rwanda and Nepal.

Rotarian, Roger F. Cram is the Director of Special Projects and Community Relations for Hiram College located in Hiram, Ohio. He has developed a curriculum entitled "Modeling Future Heroes - A Practical Application of Human Values." These courses establish values, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills that are designed for practical applications in today's various cultures.

Peace Fact: Roger Cram's values and conflict resolution models are based on years of research about the remarkable problem-solving abilities of the famed 1940's Tuskegee Airmen, whose unprecedented accomplishments still remain unmatched today. This is the true Tuskegee Airmen legacy.

Ron Denham is the Chair of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group. He received his education in England where he obtained a B.Sc. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. In 1961, after obtaining an MBA in Business Administration, joined KPMG Management Consulting, Canada's largest management consulting firm.   In this capacity he directed the international consulting practice and played a major role in development projects in Peru, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Greece, Algeria, Senegal and Cuba, Subsequently he joined A.T. Kearney where he is Director responsible for developing the Canadian practice.

Peace Fact: Ron has been active with Rotary clubs in Siberia and the Far East since 1997. He participated in the chartering of clubs in Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Komsomolsk-na-Amur and Omsk and has participated in Rotary conferences in Barnaul, Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk.  

Martin Doblmeier is the President and Founder of Journey Films an independent television and film documentary production company founded in 1984 to produce programs that explore religion and spirituality, history and social issues.   The award winning programs have been shot on location throughout the United States and in more than 40 countries around the world, and broadcast on most major television networks.

PEACE FACT : Doblmeier's film The Power of Forgiveness is a documentary that explores through seven stories how the various faith traditions and health sciences are convening around the topic of forgiveness.   Public television spring 2008. Companion book. Winner, Sun Valley Film Festival.

Chulalongkorn University, July 2007
Sponsor Rotary club: Rotary Club of Halifax Harbourside, Canada
Country of Citizenship: Canada
Languages: English
Degrees: BA in Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax NS; Masters in Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Rotary Center Degree: Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies
Current Position: Project Manager, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission

"The Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies course...surpassed my expectations. My knowledge of conflict resolution and peace building has been expanded, I better understand the roots and nature of the conflicts in other parts of the world, and I have learned more about the theories and applications of conflict analysis and peace making and peace building. I have also built relationships and begun networking with leaders from around the world and have been inspired to do more on improving human rights, social justice and peace building efforts. I feel honoured to have been selected for the program and plan to encourage and support other candidates from my home region to attend."

A Rotarian since 1992, Anna Jurak is an adjudicator with the Ontario Social Benefits Tribunal. She has a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Western Ontario and is currently studying for a B.A. in psychology.

PEACE FACT: Anna was a Group Study Exchange Team Leader to Siberia in 1999. She chairs the Peace Committee for the Rotary Club of Windsor Roseland and is a recipient of the local YMCA Peace Prize and Rotary Foundation District Service Award.

University of California-Berkeley, 2004-06
Sponsor Rotary club: Rotary Club of Caulfield, Australia (District 9800)
Country of Citizenship: Australia
Languages: English, Hebrew, and basic Arabic
Degrees: BA, Political Science/ History, University of Melbourne, Australia; BA, Political Science, Monash University, Australia; LLB, University of Melbourne, Australia
Rotary Center degree: Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master's in International and Area Studies
Applied Field Experience: Human Rights Watch, New York and Jerusalem; Researched human rights abuses in the Middle East.
Current Position: Special Assistant to Ambassador Morton Abramowitz at The Century Foundation

Summary: The Century Foundation is an independent, non-partisan think-tank. Jonathan is trying to establish a new type of peace organization - a self-sustainable peace-education company that moves away from depending on philanthropy and the goodwill of others to survive to adopt an earned income revenue model. The first product is The Peace Portal

Irek Kusmierczyk is a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University in the United States, studying comparative politics and international relations.   Prior to this, he completed a Master of Arts degree in Central and East European Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, as a Rotary International Academic Ambassadorial Scholar. Earlier, he completed a Master of Science degree in European Politics at the London School of Economics in England, and a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa.   His family came to Canada from Poland as political refugees in 1983.

Peace Fact: Irek was the Co-Chair of Vanderbilt University's 30th Annual Lecture Series on the Holocaust and Other Genocides, the longest continuous running lecture series on this topic at any university in the United States. While a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Poland, Irek had the unique opportunity to sit among three Nobel Prize winning laureates in a meeting of Polish and American poets held at an old Monastery in the ancient city of Krakow.

PP Geoffrey Bernard William Little JP.PHF, retired from the New South Wales Police Service in 2001 after a celebrated career of nearly forty years. He has worked in most areas of Police and Law Enforcement and back in the mid 70's in his native town of Sydney gained an international reputation as `Australia's Smiling Policeman', a reputation which has taken him all over the world in the promotion of Police/ Community Relations, on United Nations and Rotary based programmes.  
 
Geoffrey is the Founding International Chairman of the Police Law Enforcement Professionals Fellowship of Rotarians (Polepfor). Geoffrey is a Life Member and Vice President of the New South Wales Division of the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA, NSW) and has been the Convenor and Organizer of Sydney's Annual United Nations Day Wreath Laying Ceremony these past fourteen years.

Peace Fact: Geoffrey is considered a `guru' of the Rotary District Peace Communities Programme (RDPCP) and espouses the notion that as Rotarians, we are all `Peace Men and Women' equipped and able to promulgate an ideal, a dream, with an expectation of significant and successful outcomes within the context of individual and collective Rotary Service.

University of California-Berkeley, 2004-06
Sponsor Rotary club: Rotary Club of Portadown, Northern Ireland (District 1160)
Country of Citizenship: Northern Ireland
Languages: English, French, and basic Arabic
Degrees: LLB, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland; Degree of Barrister-at-Law, Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland
Rotary Center degree: Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.)
Applied Field Experience: University of California-Berkeley law school, Berkeley, California, USA; Foundation for Human & Humanitarian Rights, Beirut, Lebanon
Current Position: Associate with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Professional Corporation in the Commercial and Securities Litigation, White Collar Crime & Internal Investigations Unit.

Summary: Much of Lee-Anne's professional experience in law revolves around working in the area of human rights protection. During her internship with the Rotary Center she researched instances in which human rights are denied during visits to Palestinian refugee camps. She also worked with SOLIDE, a sister NGO which focuses their work on Lebanese internees in Syrian prisons.

Rotary Foundation Chairman, Bob Scott was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University in 1957 with distinction in dermatology and chest diseases. Bob emigrated to Cobourg, Ontario, Canada in 1966, where he continued in general practice. He was a Coroner for the Province of Ontario until retiring in May 2000 after investigating more than 1200 cases. Bob has taken part in many National Immunization Days in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt. In 2002-03 he was the Director of the Polio Eradication Fundraising Campaign.

Peace Fact: Bob has received the Service above Self Award, the Citation for Meritorious Service, the International Service Award for a Polio Free World, the Four Avenues of Service Award and is a Paul Harris Fellow. He has been named and "Outstanding Leader" in Polio Eradication by the United Nations Foundation and received the Glenn Sawyer Award from the Ontario Medical Association.

Tahirah Shadforth is an advocate for "Sport for Peace." ­ ­ She is part of a global team of Rotarians dedicated to using the power of sport to improve the health, education and human rights standards of underprivileged children around the world.   Sport is a development tool unlike any other and unique in its ability to reach children, especially those who have been marginalized or abused.  

Successful projects in Africa, using Rotary funding in partnership with NGO Right To Play, provide daily evidence that through sport children learn that life can have hope based on peace.   Children develop important peace-building skills like teamwork, fair play and respect for others and discover peace is possible through becoming stronger, healthier and more engaged in their communities.

Tahirah joined the Rotary Club of Ottawa in 2005.   She serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the World Community Service committee, which supports development projects in Estonia, India, Southern Sudan and Sri Lanka.

A consultant in the field of technical communication, Tahirah designs and develops online help, reference and e-learning systems for the Canadian federal government.  

Described by David Gordon Duke of the Vancouver Sun as "...confident and polished," Timothy Shantz is at home both as conductor and soloist. He currently holds various conducting positions in Windsor, Ontario as Director of Choirs at the University of Windsor, Music Director of the Windsor Classic Chorale, and Chorus master of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Tim is a candidate for the Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana.

In addition to conducting, Shantz is an accomplished tenor soloist maintaining an active concert and oratorio schedule. In the summer of 2006 he performed under the baton of Pierre Boulez and Daniel Reuss at the Lucerne Festival Academy. Other recent peformances include the Evangelist role in Bach's St. John Passion at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in Chicago as well as Italian Baroque and British Isles recitals in Edmonton

Robert (Bob) Stewart is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Consultant by profession.  He has held many senior management positions in business and government over the past 35 years, and operates his own public practice in the Northwest Territories, Canada.  Bob joined Rotary in 1988, is a Paul Harris Fellow, has served as Chair of the District 5360 Peace Committee and has spoken about peace in many Rotary and other venues.
 
Peace Fact: Bob's passion for peace was ignited by his involvement in the Rotary International convention that took place in Calgary in 1996.  The message that he heard was "peace is the most worthwhile cause, and you should do something".  Since that time, Bob has founded the Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace, leads the Canadian Culture of Peace Program, hosts national and provincial peace education conferences, and opened the first Community Centre for Teaching Peace and Peace Café in Hamilton, Ontario.  His peace website at www.peace.ca < http://www.peace.ca >  has been ranked number 1 by Google in its category with over 50,000 visitors per month, and he has been referred to as "the foremost peace educator in Canada ".

Chulalongkorn University, July 2007
Sponsor Rotary club: Rotary Club of East Louisville Sunrise, USA
Country of Citizenship: USA
Languages: English
Degrees: BA, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA; MA, University of Warwick, Coventry, England; Doctor of Fine Arts, Yale School of Drama, New Haven, USA.
Rotary Center Degree: Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies
Current Position: Professor and Chair, Theatre Arts, University of Louisville, USA.

"I began the program with high expectations and am happy to report that it exceeded all of them. I feel very fortunate to have immersed myself for eleven weeks in a topic, peace and conflict, that is as important to me personally as it is to efforts to improve our world and the diverse societies that compose it. Specifically, I benefited from the care that was given to constructing the curriculum, to the rich experiences of each fieldtrip, and to the countless observations and insights offered by fellow participants. I am eager to share this sincere appreciation with others to help give the program the international attention it richly deserves and to expand the number of applicants to it. I work in a multicultural setting and teach multicultural subjects. Additionally, I have encouraged and led my department to embrace diversity and to improve our ability to work in a multicultural world. Despite this history, the Rotary participants constituted the most diverse group of which I have ever been a member. I was nourished daily by the perspectives, cultures, and histories of my colleagues."  

Doug is a Charter Member and Past President of the Woodstock-Oxford Rotary Club (Canada), with 26 years perfect attendance.   As a third generation graduate of his family's successful farm equipment business, he is now an international advisor to family business corporations, with a focus on succession planning and family business relations.

Through his global activities and Rotary International assignments, Doug's contribution is well known, and he is often referred to as Rotary's "Roving Ambassador." He was District 7080 Governor in 2005/06 and is currently International Service Director in addition to his Zone activities promoting Rotary's public image through his United Nations involvement.   

Peace Fact: His introduction to Rotary came as a G.S.E. team member to Australia in 1977.   He was a G.S.E. Team Leader to the Philippines in 1995 and since then has been coordinating Rotary humanitarian aid in the third world.   He has traveled the globe on Rotary activities, to areas like: Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Denmark, Hong Kong, Korea, South America, China, Mexico, Samoa and South Africa.   Most recently he has been involved coordinating Humanitarian Mission Trips and helping plan Health Fairs in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines.