Peter T. Coleman holds a PhD in social/organizational psychology from Columbia University. He is professor of psychology and education at Columbia, where he holds a joint appointment at Teachers College and the Earth Institute and teaches courses in conflict resolution, social psychology, and social science research. He is also the director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University; chair of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity; and a research affiliate of the International Center for Complexity and Conflict at the Warsaw School for Social Psychology in Warsaw, Poland. He currently conducts research on the optimality of motivational dynamics in conflict, power asymmetries and conflict, intractable conflict, multicultural conflict, justice and conflict, environmental conflict, mediation dynamics, and sustainable peace. In 2003, he became the first recipient of the Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association, Division 48: Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence. He is the author of The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts (2011), Conflict, Justice, and Interdependence: The Legacy of Morton Deutsch (2011), Psychological Contributions to Sustainable Peace (2012), and Attracted to Conflict: Dynamics in the Emergence, Maintenance and Transformation of Destructive Social Relations (2013). He has also authored over seventy journal articles and chapters and is a member of the United Nations Mediation Support Unit’s Academic Advisory Council, a founding board member of the Leymah Gbowee Peace Foundation USA, and a New York State certified mediator and experienced consultant.
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Morton Deutsch is E. L. Thorndike Professor and director emeritus of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University. He studied with Kurt Lewin at MIT’s Research Center for Group Dynamics, where he obtained his PhD in 1948. He is well known for his pioneering studies in intergroup relations, cooperation-competition, conflict resolution, social conformity, and the social psychology of justice. His books include Interracial Housing, Research Methods in Social Relations, Preventing World War III: Some Proposals, Theories in Social Psychology, The Resolution of Conflict, Applying Social Psychology , and Distributive Justice . His work has been widely honored by the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award, the G. W. Allport Prize, the Carl Hovland Memorial Award, the AAAS Socio-Psychological Prize, APA’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, SESP’s Distinguished Research Scientist Award, and the Nevitt Sanford Award. He is a William James Fellow of Association for Psychological Science. He has also received lifetime achievement awards for his work on conflict management, cooperative learning, peace psychology, and applications of psychology to social issues. In addition, he has received the Teachers College Medal for his contributions to education, the Helsinki University medal for his contributions to psychology, and the doctorate of humane letters from the City University of New York. He has been president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Eastern Psychological Association, the New York State Psychological Association, and several divisions of the American Psychological Association. It is not widely known, but after postdoctoral training, Deutsch received a certificate in psychoanalysis in 1958 and conducted a limited practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy for more than twenty-five years.
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Eric C. Marcus is a principal of The Marcus Group, a firm specializing in building the capacity of individuals, groups, and organizations through strengthening skills in leadership and group development, feedback, productive conflict, change, and related areas. Based in New York City, he has been a consultant to domestic and international public, private, and nonprofit organizations since 1984. In addition to his consulting practice, he works as a community mediator, is recent past president of the Organization Development Network of Greater New York, and works with the Global Communities Forum at Columbia University. He teaches graduate-level courses in organization development and change, organizational consultation, conflict resolution, and group development at several area universities, including Baruch College, Columbia University (School of Continuing Education, School of International and Public Affairs, and Teachers College). He received his PhD, MPhil, and MA degrees in social/organizational psychology from Columbia University and his BA from Binghamton University.