Bobst gift establishes Peace, Justice Center
A $10 million gift from the Elmer and Mamdouha Bobst
Foundation will be used to create the Mamdouha S. Bobst
Center for Peace and Justice at the University.
The Bobst Center will be devoted to advancing the causes
of peace, of mutual understanding and respect for all ethnic
traditions and religious faiths, and of justice, both within
countries and across national borders.
The gift will support programs and renovations to 83
Prospect St., which will serve as the center's home. The
center will begin its activities at the start of the
2000-2001 academic year.
As an arm of the Politics Department, the Bobst Center
will sponsor scholarly activities for undergraduates,
graduate students and faculty drawn from nations and ethnic
groups around the world. Its headquarters, to be named Bobst
Hall, are envisioned as a place where students and faculty
can meet for seminars and conferences concerned with issues
of ethnic, religious and territorial conflict. The center
also anticipates having officials from different countries
come to reflect on social and political problems and forge
new strategies for resolving difficult conflicts.
"We are grateful for this generous gift," said President
Shapiro, "and we are hopeful that this new center will play
a meaningful role in securing more equitable and harmonious
relationships among all peoples of the 21st century."
Public health expert
Mamdouha Bobst was born in Lebanon. An expert in public
health, she served on Lebanon's delegation to the United
Nations before marrying Elmer Bobst in 1961. Elmer Bobst,
who died in 1978, was chair of Warner Lambert and an
architect of the modern pharmaceutical industry.
"It is my profound hope that the young people who study
at the center and participate in its programs will lead the
way," said Bobst, "whether as leaders in different parts of
the world or as teachers and thinkers who bring new insights
to age-old social and political problems."
The Bobst Center will sponsor seminars and workshops on
conflicts and strategies for reconciliation; provide
fellowships for undergraduates, graduate students and
faculty to carry out research; and offer officials involved
in current conflicts a place for calm thinking, informal
discussion and possibly development of new approaches to
peaceful resolutions.
Appropriate subjects for study would include, for
example, the Middle East or Northern Ireland peace
processes, which would be analyzed for factors that can be
applied to other religious or cultural conflicts; the rise
of Hindu nationalism in India, which could yield strategies
that would be useful in reducing tensions with other groups
in India and neighboring states; and recent peace-keeping
efforts by the United Nations, in search of lessons to be
applied in future missions.
The Bobst Foundation was established by Elmer and
Mamdouha Bobst to promote initiatives ranging from medical
research to cultural programs to higher education. Its gift
helps achieve one of the goals of the Anniversary Campaign
for Princeton, which was launched in 1995 and runs through
June 30, 2000.
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