Kenneth R. Rutherford

Ken Rutherford is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at James Madison University. He served as Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU, Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania, UNHCR Emergency Refugee Coordinator in Senegal, humanitarian emergency relief officer in northern Kenya and Somalia, and as Fulbright Scholar in Jordan (University of Jordan, Amman. 2005) and Vietnam (Hue University, Foreign Languages and International Studies. Hue. 2024). He is included among the "one hundred most influential people in armed violence reduction" by the London-based organization Action on Armed Violence, and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Leadership in International Rehabilitation Award (Northwestern University), the Humanitarian Award presented by Sir Paul McCartney (UNA-USA) and the Human Security Person of the Year Award (University of California-Irvine). Rutherford co-founded the Landmine Survivors Network and escorted Princess Diana on her last humanitarian mission to visit landmine survivors in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was a prominent leader in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Appointed by the Governor of Virginia, he currently serves on the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. He is a former board member of the following charities: Friendship Industries (focused on employment of people with disabilities), Landmine Survivors Network, Legacies of War, and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University, and B.A. and MBA degrees from the University of Colorado, where he lettered in football and inducted into its Hall for Distinguished alumni.