Alums give $2.5M for diplomacy program

Alums give $2.5M for diplomacy program

BY MICHELE ARNOLD
Special to the Rice News

“Peace on Earth” is something printed on holiday cards. For most people it’s a wish, a hope or a prayer. For Bryan and June Zwan, it’s their objective in life.

Bryan ’74 said, “We will do whatever we can, in our lifetime, to bring peace to this Earth. We’ve created the June B. and Bryan J. Zwan Visiting Distinguished Scholar Endowment to accomplish this most urgent goal.”

Photo by Tommy LaVergne

From left, Brian and June Zwan donated $2.5 million for a joint project between the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Also pictured, from right, are Boniuk Center Director Carol Quillen and Baker Institute Director Edward Djerejian.

The new $2.5 million program is a part of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Each year a prominent scholar, policymaker, journalist, diplomat or religious figure whose work promotes religious freedom, mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence across religious boundaries will be in residence at Rice for a three- to 12-month term. The scholar’s time will be divided among hosting research workshops, delivering public lectures and serving as a guest instructor for undergraduates and as a mentor to graduate students. At the end of each period of residence, the scholar will have produced a significant piece of publishable work that speaks to a real-world problem. All work generated is expected to be archived on the Boniuk Center’s Web site.

June and Bryan said they want to bring to the public a greater understanding of the world’s religions with the hope that such understanding will foster a greater capacity for compassion in individuals, communities and nations. Both the Boniuk Center and the Baker Institute will promulgate the visiting scholars’ research to a broad, international audience with the objective of encouraging action and providing policymakers, decision-makers and community leaders with viable solutions for the resolution of ongoing religious tensions and conflicts. Scholars for the Zwan program might be retired Foreign Service officers, former envoys, human rights activists or lawyers or academics who work with the United Nations.

The Zwans are also interested in having Rice students see how their studies here can be applied to the practical affairs of everyday life to increase the quality of life and to bring about a better world. “I am hopeful that when Rice students are fully informed of the issues and learn how, through public debate, viable, nonviolent solutions can be formulated, they will use that knowledge to quench the violence that is destroying nations right before our eyes,” June said.

Boniuk Center Director Carol Quillen said, “This program capitalizes on Rice’s strengths: A world-class faculty, the presence of the Baker Institute, a religiously diverse, urban environment and concrete examples of multidisciplinary collaborations. We are very grateful to the Zwans for making this important program possible and expect the first scholars to be named in 2007.”

—Michele Arnold is the senior writer in Rice’s Office of Development.