The Chair was officially launched today 23 June 2016. This afforded a great opportunity to host Dr Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. Dr Gandhi delivered at the Great Hall on the Magee Campus an inspiring speech on peace and non-violence, as well as sharing the lessons he learned while growing up in his grandfather’s home in South Africa. The visit was the first headline event to be hosted by the Chair, and served as a fitting and moving launch. During his visit Dr Gandhi also met with Ulster University students and staff and the Clinton Summer School at INCORE’s participants, as well as community leaders as part of an IFI hosted seminar. The lecture was also part supported by the Smyth Memorial lecture fund, and it is anticipated that the Smyth Memorial lecture will be an annual event hosted by the Chair.
Dr Adrian Johnston, Chair of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), Dr Arun Gandhi and Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace)
Dr Thomas O’Neill III and Dr Pat Hume (Honorary Graduates)
Dr Arun Gandhi and Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace)
Dr Arun Gandhi talking to students
Dr Arun Gandhi
Dr Arun Gandhi talking to students
Dr Arun Gandhi talking to students
Professor Gillian Robinson, Dr Adrian Johnston, Chair of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace), Dr Arun Gandhi and Dr Maire Braniff, Director of INCORE. (Photo: Nigel McDowell/Ulster University)
Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace), Dr Arun Gandhi, Dr Pat Hume, Dr Thomas O’Neill III and Professor Paddy Nixon (Ulster Vice Chancellor)
Various guests and donors at launch dinner.
Gillian McColgan, Dr Adrian Johnston, Chair of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace), Dr Arun Gandhi, E. Neville Isdell, inaugural donor and Ulster University honorary graduate, Professor Paddy Nixon, Caroline Armstrong (Head of Fundraising, Ulster University)
Eddie Friel (Head of Development and Alumni Office), Dr Adrian Johnston, Chair of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), Professor Brandon Hamber (The John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace), Dr Arun Gandhi, Dr Maire Braniff (INCORE Director)
He was born in South Africa and currently lives in Belfast. In South Africa he trained as a Clinical Psychologist at the University of the Witwatersrand and holds a Ph.D. from the Ulster University. Prior to moving to Northern Ireland, he co-ordinated the Transition and Reconciliation Unit at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg. He co-ordinated the Centre’s work focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
He was a visiting Tip O Neill Fellow in Peace Studies at INCORE in 1997/1998. He was also the recipient of the Rockefeller Resident Fellowship (1996) and was a visiting fellow at the Centre for the Study of Violence in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In 2010-2013 he was a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Scholar at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He has been awarded The Paul Harris medal for contributions to peace by Rotary (2013), and was listed as one of the Top 100: The most influential people in armed violence reduction by the Action on Armed Violence Network (2013/2014).
He has consulted to a range of community groups, policy initiatives and government bodies in Northern Ireland and South Africa. He has undertaken consulting and research work, and participated in various peace and reconciliation initiatives in Liberia, Mozambique, Bosnia, the Basque Country and Sierra Leone, among others.
He has lectured and taught widely, including, on the International Trauma Studies Programme at Colombia University, New York and the Post-War and Reconstruction Unit, University of York; and at the University of Ulster.
He has written extensively on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the psychological implications of political violence, and the process of transition, masculinity and reconciliation in South Africa, Northern Ireland and abroad.
