For Immediate Release, December 22, 2011
Contact: David Early, 202-429-7817 or Allison Sturma, 202-429-4725

(Washington) -- As the number of students trained at its Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding climbs toward 25,000, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) also welcomes an accomplished new dean. Dr. Lauren Van Metre has been named the Academy’s dean of students. She joins the Academy’s management team led by Provost Pamela Aall, Jeff Helsing (Dean of Curriculum), and Mike Lekson (Director of Gaming).

The Academy is the only U.S. government enterprise that offers training in conflict management and peacebuilding tradecraft to all the various whole-of-government and community actors—including military and civilian agencies, NGOs, IOs, foreign militaries and governments, and colleges and universities.

“Lauren Van Metre brings a strong mix of both practical and academic experience,” said Dr. Richard H. Solomon, USIP president. “Her success in developing civ-mil training is particularly impressive, and demonstrates vision, creativity and entrepreneurialism, all qualities that will serve the Academy and USIP well. The sense of community and innovation, with faculty and staff clearly and deeply committed to the students and to the profession, positions USIP to play a leading role in conflict management and peacebuilding training and practice at a time of profound change in the international environment.”

Prior to joining USIP, Van Metre worked at the State Department as deputy director for Kosovo peace implementation, and at the Defense Department where she organized the first ever Defense Ministerial of the Americas and South Balkans Defense Ministerial -- meetings designed to promote better civil-military relations in these regions and improve transparency in their defense relations. Van Metre worked previously at USIP as senior trainer in post-conflict peace and transition operations and running research working groups on Russia, the Balkans and Western Europe.

“The Academy is highly regarded and continues to build on its reputation,” said Solomon. “With an outstanding faculty and commitment to practical applied learning, it is well positioned to meet the real-time challenges of a dynamic, rapidly evolving profession. I look forward to Lauren’s contributions and having her as a member of the Academy’s leadership team. I am confident the Academy will continue to develop as a model of excellence under her leadership.”

Van Metre’s appointment follows that of Dr. Ted Feifer. He will focus full-time on implementation of USIP support for the Africa Contingency Operations Training & Assistance (ACOTA) program to enhance the capacities and capabilities of African partner countries, regional institutions, and the continent’s peacekeeping resources to plan, train, deploy, and sustain professionally competent peacekeepers to meet conflict transformation requirements with minimal non-African assistance. He will also lead the Rapid Expert Assistance and Cooperation Teams program to rapidly train civilian experts for deployment on behalf of the Department of State to advance activities associated with conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation in Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Central and Eastern Europe.

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The United States Institute of Peace is the independent, nonpartisan conflict management center created by Congress to prevent and mitigate international conflict without resorting to violence. USIP works to save lives, increase the government’s ability to deal with conflicts before they escalate, reduce government costs, and enhance national security. USIP is headquartered in Washington, DC. To learn more visit www.usip.org.