The Great Negotiator Award

Each year, the Program on Negotiation (PON) presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. Bruce Wasserstein, a businessman with more than 30 years of negotiation and dealmaking experience as an investment banker and in the mergers and acquisition industry, was selected to receive the award in April 2007.

Past honorees include: Sadako Ogata, international refugees advocate (2005); Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (2004); Stuart Eizenstat, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union, under secretary of commerce, under secretary of state, and deputy secretary of the treasury (2003); Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations secretary general's special envoy to Afghanistan (2002); Charlene Barshefsky, U.S. trade representative in the second Clinton administration (2001); and former U.S. Senator George Mitchell (2000).

Talks and Panel Discussions

Throughout the year, PON hosts lectures, discussions, panels, and conferences to increase awareness about negotiation and alternative dispute resolution and to highlight the research and achievements of scholars and practitioners from different disciplines and international contexts.

PON Film Series

The PON Film Series is a forum for discussing negotiation theory and practice through the analysis of conflicts depicted in documentary or feature films. The Film Series also presents and honors filmmakers whose films increase our understanding of negotiation and conflict transformation.

The Dispute Resolution Forum

The Dispute Resolution Forum meets monthly to give professionals, practitioners, scholars, and students an opportunity to share information and gain new knowledge. Open to anyone interested in the field, Forum activities focus on a wide range of topics, from discussions of international conflict to the role of mental-health professionals in mediating disputes.

Student Interest Group

The cross-school Student Interest Group (SIG), a group of more than 200 students from the Greater Boston area who share an interest in negotiation, organizes activities, including discussion groups on topics in negotiation and conflict resolution and social events. These activities are open to all interested students from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Simmons College, Tufts University, University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Boston College, and other Boston-area schools. SIG provides opportunities to collaborate on interuniversity events, develop and use conflict-resolution and negotiation skills, and explore careers in mediation and negotiation.

Negotiation and Nonviolent Action

Since 2005, PON has been exploring the relationship between negotiation and strategic nonviolent action. These activities focus on negotiation and nonviolent action as tools for resolving conflict and examine how practitioners of both fields can learn from each other.