Commencement Speaker

Jerry White
Co-founder and Executive Director, Landmine Survivors Network

Jerry White is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Landmine Survivors Network, based in Washington, DC. He is a leader of the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Today, LSN empowers survivors in Bosnia, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Jordan, Mozambique, Vietnam, and other countries to recover from trauma and reclaim their lives. LSN's comprehensive rehabilitation services include physical and emotional support, peer counseling, and social and economic reintegration.

Jerry understands landmine damage all too well. While studying in Israel in 1984, he organized a hike in the Golan with two friends. But what started as a fun-filled camping trip became a nightmare. One innocent step forward; one hidden landmine; one life forever changed.

The explosion ripped away Jerry's lower right leg and severely damaged his left. Over the next six months he underwent multiple surgeries and learned to walk with an artificial limb. But Jerry refused to surrender to the pain, deciding instead to devote himself to humanitarian issues.

After earning a B.A. in Judaic Studies and International Relations from Brown University, Jerry worked for the Brookings Institution and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 1989, he became Assistant Director at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, dedicated to inhibiting the spread of nuclear weapons. Jerry also co-founded, edited and published The Risk Report, an award-winning publication and worldwide database that identified companies helping to produce weapons of mass destruction.

In August 1997, Jerry escorted Diana, Princess of Wales, on her last humanitarian mission-a three-day trip to Bosnia to meet privately with landmine victims and their families. In 1998, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan became LSN's new international patron. A recognized landmine authority, Jerry has provided Congressional testimony and commentary to many periodicals and mass media. His efforts have been honored by humanitarian awards given by Sir Paul and Heather Mills McCartney, Brown University, the Center for International Rehabilitation, the Mohammed Amin Award, and the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Jerry is a husband and father of four, and currently lives in Maryland.