More than a decade ago, a pair of philanthropic peace activists began a quest for a research university to undertake the scientific study of peace. Their search ended at UMass Amherst in 2002. Impressed with campus scholarship on peace and violence, the West Coast couple gave $2.5 million to endow a chair in peace psychology and launch the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program. In 2011, encouraged by the training of PhDscholars and the research their first gift made possible, the couple donated $2.8 million more to establish a chair in the study of nonviolent direct action and civil resistance. Here is a look at what these two gifts mean to UMass and to the world.
