Alums Give $2.5M for Diplomacy Program

“Peace on Earth” is something printed on holiday cards. For most people it’s a wish, a hope, or a prayer. For June and Bryan Zwan ’74, it’s their objective in life.

From left, Bryan and June Zwan; Edward P. Djerejian, director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy; and Carol Quillen, director of the Boniuk Center.

“We will do whatever we can, in our lifetime, to bring peace to this Earth,” says Bryan Zwan. “We’ve created the June B. and Bryan J. Zwan Visiting Distinguished Scholar Endowment to accomplish this most urgent goal.”

The new $2.5 million program is a part of the Boniuk Center for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Each year, a prominent scholar, policymaker, journalist, diplomat, or religious figure whose work promotes religious freedom, mutual understanding, and peaceful coexistence across religious boundaries will be in residence at Rice for a three- to 12-month term. The scholar’s time will be divided among hosting research workshops, delivering public lectures, and serving as a guest instructor for undergraduates and as a mentor to graduate students. At the end of each period of residence, the scholar will have produced a significant piece of publishable work that speaks to a real-world problem. All work generated is expected to be archived on the Boniuk Center’s website.

The Zwans say they want to bring to the public an increased understanding of the world’s religions with the hope that such understanding will foster a greater capacity for compassion in individuals, communities, and nations. Both the Boniuk Center and the Baker Institute will promulgate the visiting scholars’ research to a broad, international audience with the objective of encouraging action and providing policymakers, decisionmakers, and community leaders with viable solutions for the resolution of ongoing religious tensions and conflicts.

The Zwans also are interested in having Rice students observe how their studies here can be applied to the practical affairs of everyday life to increase the quality of life and to bring about a better world. “I am hopeful that when Rice students are fully informed of the issues and learn how, through public debate, viable, nonviolent solutions can be formulated, they will use that knowledge to quench the violence that is destroying nations right before our eyes,” June Zwan says.

—Michele Arnold