Dr. Williams is a leader in the field of experiential education and an expert on the issue of nuclear nonproliferation policy.  In his over 35 years as a professor at Austin College in Sherman, Texas he created and supervised the college's Model United Nations team, winning numerous awards at national competitions and transforming a generation of young people into caring, capable, and globally conscious professionals.  He has contributed greatly to the field of experiential education through numerous articles and years of faculty training seminars. In addition, he has garnered several major teaching awards for his classes in International Relations, American Foreign Policy, and Comparative Politics.

Dr. Williams has also worked in government, including a tour of duty in the Department of State under Secretary of State Madeline Albright in which he worked extensively on the permanent extension of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. He also served the Office of International Programs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Additionally, Dr. Williams is an accomplished writer. His first non-fiction, Washed in the Blood has received wide critical acclaim and he has several others in progress.

Dr. Williams enjoys spending time with his family, specifically his grandchildren, and seeing several movies each weekend if possible.

See the Latest by Shelly Williams!

• Washed in the Blood
• Summer of '66

Considering Nuclear Earth Penetrators

The US and the UN: A Realist's Perspective (2002)

Where Globalization Meets Localization

Addressing Limitations in the Wake of Catastrophe

My Role in the Gulf War

Gayane Manukyan

Gayane has been working in the field of International Relations for most of her life. She has extensive experience in the non-profit and International Development sector. Before taking the Vice President’s position at Osgood, she was a Project Manager for an overseas cancer research center with the Armenian American Cultural Association, Inc.

As an adjunct professor of Global Politics at Troy University, Gayane has taught in subject areas of Foreign Aid, Global Conflict, International Development, and Human Rights.

Ms. Manukyan speaks Armenian, Russian, English, Spanish and Turkish, and is currently studying French. She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations & Public Administration and BA in Communications from Troy University, and Foreign Languages/Linguistics from Linguistic University of Armenia. You can reach her by email at gmanukyan@osgoodcenter.org or at 202-663-5872.

Dr. Patrick Mendis, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Email: patrickmendis@post.harvard.edu

Dr. Patrick Mendis is an expert on UN affairs, U.S. foreign relations, and international human security.  He represented the government of Sri Lanka as its “Youth Ambassador” at the UN General Assembly with Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala before becoming a U.S. citizen.  Later he served as an American diplomat under U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

Before joining the government service, he was a military professor through the University of Maryland in the NATO and Pacific Commands of the U.S. Department Defense.  Dr. Mendis also served as a consulting economist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Center for Global Security Research under Ambassador Ronald Lehman. Later, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venemen appointed him to the governing board of the USDA Graduate School.  Dr. Mendis also worked for Senator Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN) in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

An alumnus of Harvard Executive Leadership Program at the Kennedy School of Government, he received his PhD from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Mendis earned his MA from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and studied under Ambassador Harlan Cleveland, the founding dean of the Institute.

For his leadership, Dr. Mendis was recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the UN University Fellowship and the Harold Stassen Award for UN Affairs.  He is a curriculum advisor to the Global Classroom at the UNA-USA, a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, and a life member of the Society for International Development. Most recently, he authored two books, Glocalization: The Human Side of Globalization as If the Washington Consensus Mattered. (See: http://stores.lulu.com/patrickmendis) and TRADE for PEACE: How the DNA of America, Freemasonry, and Providence Created a New World Order with Nobody in Charge.
 

Also, read these articles:

• Glocalization Our Connected World

• Confucian Economics in Korean Unification in the SAIS Observer

• Harvard Club at the Embassy of Sri Lanka

• Meeting with Fidel Castro in the Minnesota Daily