Nobel Laureate to be Commencement Speaker at Soka University

Jody Williams, who received a shared Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work to ban landmines through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, will be Soka University of America’s Commencement Speaker on May 22, 2015.

Jody Williams was the third US woman to receive the Peace Prize. She chairs the Nobel Women’s Initiative, which works to support and amplify the efforts of women around the world working for sustainable peace with justice and equality.

Beginning in early 1992, with two non-governmental organizations and a staff of one, Jody Williams oversaw the International Campaign to Ban Landmines’ growth to over 1,300 organizations in 95 countries. She also served as strategist and spokesperson as the Campaign achieved its goal of an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines in 1997.

Williams holds the Sam and Cele Keeper Endowed Professorship in Peace and Social Justice at the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston where she has been teaching since 2003. In academic year 2012-2013, she became the inaugural Jane Addams Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Social Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her memoir, My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl’s Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize, was published in 2013.

“We’re very proud that Soka University is welcoming Jody Williams,” said Daniel Habuki president of Soka University of America in a statement. “Our mission is to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life. Discussions on peace and non-violence are central to our core values. We hope that this Commencement will help empower students to face the challenges they will find as they work for peace in their communities and countries.”