2023 International Peace Symposium

Speakers

• Bryan Miller Executive Director of Heeding God's Call to End Gun Violence
  

  Bryan Miller

  Executive Director of Heeding God's Call to End Gun Violence

  Bryan Miller is the Executive Director of Heeding God’s Call to End Gun Violence, a faith-based and grassroots movement to prevent gun violence. He left a 25-year career in international business after his brother, FBI Agent Mike Miller, was killed in a 1994 massacre of law enforcement officers at Washington, DC police headquarters.
  Miller then led Ceasefire NJ, a secular gun violence prevention organization in New Jersey, for 15 years. He has helped enact many new gun safety regulations, leading New Jersey to have among the lowest per capita rates of gun death in the country.
  In 2009, Miller co-founded Heeding God’s Call, which has mobilized faithful public pressure to shutter Philadelphia’s most notorious gun shop and block the opening of a new gun shop at that site. Heeding God’s Call uses a range of activities to appeal to people and congregations of all faiths and energize them into activism to prevent gun violence.

• Chad Dion Lassiter Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
  

  Chad Dion Lassiter

  Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

  Lassiter is the current Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, where he investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination in areas like employment, housing, commercial property, education, and public accommodations. A nationally recognized expert in the field of American Race Relations, Lassiter has worked on race, peace, and poverty- related issues in the U.S., Africa, Canada, Haiti, Israel, and Norway, and is called upon frequently by media outlets to provide commentary on race relations and potential solutions.

• Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz Research Professor, US Army War College
  

  Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz

  Research Professor, US Army War College

  Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz is currently a Research Professor at the Center for Strategic Leadership, Homeland Defense and Security Studies and Senior Environmental Security Fellow, Strategic Landpower Futures Group at the US Army War College.

  Dr. da Cruz is the former President of the Savannah Council on World Affairs and is on the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council of America. Dr. da Cruz is also a CISCO Certified CyberOps Officer, Certified INFOSEC Cybersecurity Administrator, Certified HIPAA Compliance Officer, a certified US Department of Homeland Security Military Resources in Emergency Management, Computer Security Incident Handler, and a Certified Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cyber Intelligence.

• Dr. Mehdi Noorbaksh Professor at Harrisburg University, WACH Vice President
  

  Dr. Mehdi Noorbaksh

  Professor at Harrisburg University, WACH Vice President

  Expert on the Middle East, Iran, and International Affairs

• Dr. Michael Yaffe Vice President, Civic Engagement and Scholarship at the US Institute of Peace
  

  Dr. Michael Yaffe

  Vice President, Civic Engagement and Scholarship at the US Institute of Peace

  Dr. Michael Yaffe is vice president of civic engagement and scholarship at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Before joining USIP in 2017, Dr. Yaffe served in a variety of positions in the U.S. government, most recently as the senior advisor to both the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and the special envoy for Middle East Peace at the U.S. Department of State. Between 2002 and 2012, he was an academic dean and distinguished professor of strategic studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

• Gerald (JR) Waltmeyer Manager of the Address Confidentiality Program for the PA Board of Probation and Parole
  

  Gerald (JR) Waltmeyer

  Manager of the Address Confidentiality Program for the PA Board of Probation and Parole

  Waltmeyer is a victim advocate who has worked in the field for over 20 years. He began his career with the District Attorney’s Office of York County, PA, where he worked with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. He later took a break to teach and coach, but returned to victim services after the birth of his first daughter. He is currently the manager of the Address Confidentiality Program for the PA Board of Probation and Parole. He is passionate about helping victims of crime and violence, and he has received numerous awards for his work.

• Kirsten N. Bookmiller, Ph.D. Professor of Government and Political Affairs and International Studies
  

  Kirsten N. Bookmiller, Ph.D.

  Professor of Government and Political Affairs and International Studies

  Dr. Kirsten Nakjavani Bookmiller (Ph.D., University of Virginia) is a Professor of Government and Political Affairs and International Studies, a contributing faculty member to the MS in Emergency Management program and director of the Center for Disaster Research and Education’s Global Partnerships Initiative at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Nakjavani Bookmiller’s teaching areas include international humanitarianism and human rights, public international law and global governance. Her current research agenda focuses upon soft law contributors to the development of international disaster response law.

• Sanjay Paul, PhD Professor, Elizabethtown College
  

  Sanjay Paul, PhD

  Professor, Elizabethtown College

  Dr. Paul joined Elizabethtown College in 2002. He teaches courses in mathematical economics, data visualization, international economics and a first-year seminar on globalization. He has developed an International Organizations Seminar in which he leads a study tour to Switzerland and Germany, which involves collaboration with Konstanz University in Germany. In the past he has led study tours to Brussels, Dhaka, and the United Nations, New York.
  His research interests include globalization, economic development and trade policy. Dr. Paul has written on economic issues for the Patriot News.
  He has a Ph.D. in economics from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and Bachelor’s of Technology in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.