Amr Abdalla

DR. AMR ABDALLA is Professor and Vice Rector at the University for Peace (UPEACE). In his capacity as Vice Rector, Dr. Abdalla ensures that all academic courses and activities are of highest quality, and contribute to UPEACE’s growth as a leader in the field of peace building and conflict resolution education and practice. As a professor, Dr. Abdalla teaches courses on conflict analysis and resolution, terrorism, and research methods in the area of peace building. In addition to this role, Dr. Abdalla is also a Visiting Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. Prior to joining the University for Peace, Dr. Abdalla was a Senior Fellow with the Peace Operations Policy Program, School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Dr. Abdalla’s academic and professional careers are multi-disciplinary. He has been teaching graduate classes in conflict analysis and resolution, and has conducted training, research and evaluation of conflict resolution and peace building programs in several countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. He has been an active figure in promoting effective cross-cultural messages within the Islamic and Arabic-speaking communities in America through workshops, television, and radio presentations. He has also been actively involved in inter-faith dialogues in the United States. Dr. Abdalla pioneered the development of the first conflict resolution training manual for the Muslim communities in the United States titled “…Say Peace.” He also founded Project LIGHT (Learning Islamic Guidance for Human Tolerance), a community peer-based anti-discrimination project funded by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). Dr. Abdalla obtained a law degree in Egypt in 1977 where he practiced law as a prosecuting attorney from 1978 to 1987. He then emigrated to the U.S. where he obtained a Master's degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.