Ernie Regehr (BA '68)

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Ernie Regehr (BA '68) is a senior policy advisor at Project Ploughshares, a peace research institute established at Conrad Grebel University College. Starting out as the founding director 30 years ago, Regehr quickly established himself as an international authority on peace and disarmament.

Project Ploughshares in an integral part of the college's peace and conflict studies program and since 2003 has been housed at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI).

Regehr has served on many national and international organizations, including acting as an advisor for the Government of Canada delegation to the Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2005 and the United Nations Small Arms Conference in 2001.

His vision has established Waterloo as a centre of excellence in the area of peace research and disarmament.

One of his treasured memories as a University of Waterloo arts student in the 1960s was enrolling in his first English literature course, taught by Professor W.R. Martin. The course was a revelation that offered "a feast of insights into human behaviour and human motivation, all directly relevant to understanding public behaviour and thus policy," recalls Regehr.

Regehr is an adjunct professor at Conrad Grebel and continues to connect with peace and conflict studies alumni at the senior levels of government in Ottawa, the corridors of the United Nations in New York, and in non-governmental organizations from the mountains of Asia to the savannahs of Africa.

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Regehr is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

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