Jeff Pugh: Executive Director
Jeff Pugh, the founding executive director of CEMPROC, is an instructor and doctoral candidate in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University. He received bachelor
degrees in Political Science and Speech Communication, as well as a
certificate in Latin American Studies, from the University of Georgia,
where he graduated with highest honors, summa cum laude. Jeff currently mediates in Baltimore, MD through the Community Mediation Program; having served
as a school mediator in the past, he also served for three years as a
justice on the University of Georgia Judiciary, which arbitrated
student conduct violations. He also served as Director of Public
Affairs and Education for the Judiciary. Jeff was trained by and
received graduate credit from the Institute for International Mediation
and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) through its Latin American Symposium
on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, cosponsored by el Instituto
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico and George Washington University. He
worked in the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C.,
and he served for three years on a selection committee for the Delta
Prize for Peace and Global Understanding, whose recipients have
included President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and President
Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. His teaching experience includes a
year teaching English as a Second Language through Catholic Social
Services in Athens, Georgia. Jeff’s interest in Latin America,
and in the Andean region in particular, is well-established: he has
conducted research on sustainable development NGOs in Ecuador, with an
article published by the Bulletin of Latin American Research; and
he planned, coordinated, and moderated a symposium at the University
of Georgia on the conflict in Colombia, which included military, civilian,
Colombian, and U.S. speakers and attendees. He has conducted research and
presented on different methods for managing conflict, including the
impact that gender has on conflict style, and has trained hundreds of adults and children from countries around the globe in conflict resolution and peacemaking skills. Jeff is an active member
and leader in the United Methodist Church, where he has sung in the choir.