Peter Ackerman

Peter Ackerman is the founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, the managing director of Rockport Capital Incorporated, and currently chair of the board of trustees of Freedom House. He was born on November 6 1946 in New York City, New York. As an undergraduate he attended Colgate University. After he graduated from Colgate, he attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where in he earned a Ph.D. in 1976 in International Relations. One of Dr. Ackerman's advisors was Gene Sharp. Dr. Ackerman's thesis, "Strategic Aspects of Nonviolent Resistance Movements", examined the nonviolent strategy and tactics used by people who are living under oppression and have no viable military option to free themselves.

After he received his PhD, Dr. Ackerman joined Drexel Burnham Lambert where he worked as an investment banker for 15 years.

In 1990 Dr. Ackerman moved to London where he was a visiting scholar at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. During this time he co-authored with Christopher Kruegler the book "Strategic Nonviolent Conflict". Dr. Ackerman was also a content advisor on the Emmy-nominated documentary "" and co-authored with Jack Duvall a book of the same title. In 2002 Dr. Ackerman also helped produce the documentary "Bringing Down A Dictator", the sequel to "A Force More Powerful", which chronicled the fall of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic by nonviolent means.

Dr. Ackerman and his wife have two sons, one a mathematician and Olympic wrestler for England, and the other an officer in the United States Marine Corps, who earned the Silver Star for his service in Iraq.

External links

* [http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/ A Force More Powerful]