Dr Ken Rutherford, special guest speaker for the ITF BoA

As a special guest speaker, Dr Ken Rutherford, Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery gave a presentation at the 27th Session of ITF Board of Advisors. Since he is also a victim of a mine explosion, the main focus of the presentation was the importance of victim assistance support.
Ken Rutherford is Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) since February 2010. In his capacity as CISR Director he is conducting or participating in post-conflict missions and projects in Burundi, Colombia, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Palestine, Rwanda, Switzerland, Uganda, Vietnam and Yemen. He is co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network, and is a renowned leader in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning coalition that spearheaded the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the global movement that led to the 2008 Cluster Munitions Ban Treaty. He has worked for the Peace Corps (Mauritania), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Senegal), International Rescue Committee (Kenya and Somalia) and as a Fulbright Professor (Jordan). Rutherford is the author of Disarming States: The International Movement to Ban Landmines (Praeger, 2011) and Humanitarianism Under Fire: The US and UN Intervention in Somalia (Kumarian Press, 2008), and co-editor of Reframing the Agenda: The Impact of NGO and Middle Power Cooperation in International Security Policy (Greenwood Press, 2003) and Landmines and Human Security: The International Movement to Ban Landmines (State University of New York Press, 2004, paperback 2006). He has testified before Congress and published articles in numerous academic and policy journals, including World Politics, Journal of International Politics, Journal of International Law and Policy and The Review of Disability Studies. He was a Professor of Public Affairs and an Associate Professor in Political Science at Missouri State University prior to joining the JMU faculty in February 2010. Rutherford holds a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Colorado (1985, 1992 respectively), and Ph.D. from Georgetown University (2000).