2010: Peace advocate

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Tags: SBS, winter-2011

David Lamotte

David LaMotte, Master of International Studies

Recent UQ graduate and former Rotary World Peace Fellow David LaMotte has been appointed to a prestigious committee that selects Nobel Peace Prize nominees.

Mr LaMotte graduated from UQ last year with a Master of International Studies (Peace and Conflict Resolution) and returned to the United States to work in the field of peace advocacy.

His commitment to peacemaking and humanitarian work has taken him to conflict zones from Bosnia and Belfast to Hebron and Haiti.

Mr LaMotte has been appointed to a three-year term on the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Committee.

The AFSC is a Quaker social justice, peace and humanitarian organisation which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 – an honour which earned it the privilege of nominating a potential recipient each year.

Past nominees put forward by the committee have included Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.

The committee consists of 12 people across three continents who together make a list of potential nominees, winnow it down, conduct interviews and draft a nomination.

Not your typical student, Mr LaMotte also has had an 18-year career as a professional musician, releasing 10 albums.

He has performed more than 2000 shows in 47 US states and on four continents; a career that he put on hold in order to study at UQ.

Mr LaMotte came to Brisbane on a fellowship to study in the Rotary Centre for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution, housed within the School of Political Science and International Studies at St Lucia.

He credits the school’s masters program in peace and conflict resolution with helping him to develop the professional skills he uses for his every day work in peace advocacy, including his involvement in the Nobel Peace Prize nominating committee.

“I developed relationships that continue even now,” Mr LaMotte said.

“After attending a large undergraduate university, where I’m confident that none of the professors remember me, it’s refreshing to have that kind of involvement and to truly develop friendships with the academic staff.”

Mr LaMotte said he was looking forward to his work on the Nobel committee and continuing his hectic schedule of speaking engagements, concerts and directing a not-for-profit organisation, PEG Partners, which he founded in 2004 to support school and library projects in Guatemala.

By Gillian Ievers

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