Dr. J. Peter Pham

J. Peter Pham's contributions toward justice for all are plentiful. As one of the official U.S. delegates, he monitored Liberia's 2005 presidential and legislative polls, the first free elections in the West African country's 150-year history. An insightful observer and prolific writer, Pham, through his books, articles and Congressional testimony, has shed clear light on deadly conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as on U.S. strategic interests around the globe including the war on terrorism. Through his contacts acquired from years as an international diplomat, Pham organized two major justice conferences at JMU, on trafficking of children and on genocide, and hosted numerous guest speakers to spotlight global problems and potential solutions, inaugurating the Guardian Lecture Series to bring distinguished scholars and practitioners on international issues to JMU.

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."
— James Madison, in an 1825 letter