Each year, the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution presents the International Advocate for Peace (IAP) Award to an individual, organization or group that is exemplary in the field of conflict resolution. Past recipients include President Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu and, most recently, Mediators Beyond Borders International (2020), Sir Paul McCartney (2019) and Leymah Gbowee (2018).  

Author, academic, anthropologist and negotiation expert William Ury was selected to receive the 21st IAP award. Ury is co-author of “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In,” an international best-selling book considered one of the primary business negotiating texts of the modern era. 

“Through his writing and speaking, Ury has helped millions in conflict secure win-win outcomes by influencing those studying negotiation to separate the people from the problem, focus on shared interests, develop fair criteria, discover creative ways to move forward and avoid the creative spiral of conflict,” said Alexandra Sandler, Symposium Editor of the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. 

“I feel profound gratitude to receive this beautiful award and a considerable dose of humility acknowledging the very painful and tragic wars that are raging as we speak in Ukraine, Yemen and Ethiopia,” said Ury during the March 11 award ceremony. “It underscores the critical importance of dedicating ourselves even more deeply to the sacred cause of peace.” 

The theme of this year's Melnick Annual Symposium, which was held in conjunction with the IAP award ceremony, was the “Death and Resurrection of Dialogue,” where panelists explored the rise and decline of dialogue in the public and political spheres, in communities and in mediation itself with the disappearance in some quarters of joint sessions.