Beverlee Bruce

Beverlee Bruce "is an Adjunct Professor at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. She previously served as the Program Director at the Social Science Research Council where she managed the Council's Minority Fellowship Program funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. In addition, she co-directed two other projects: Forced Migration and Human Rights and Education in Emergencies. Previously, Dr. Bruce directed the Mellon Migration Seminars Program, a project to foster interest among students at selected Historically Black Colleges and Universities to work in the field of migration and refugee services. She served as Chair of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children from 1994 to 1999.

"A member of the Women's Commission since 1991, Dr. Bruce participated in Commission delegations to Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, South Africa, Mozambique, Croatia, and Sarajevo to assess the situation and needs of refugee and displaced women and children. She led the Women's Commission delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. The Women's Commission is the only organization in the United States dedicated solely to speaking out on behalf of refugee women and children.

"Dr. Bruce, social anthropologist, development specialist, and educator, has had experience in Africa and the Caribbean since 1975 implementing and evaluating rural community development projects that utilize appropriate education, communication and organizing strategies as the basis of insuring effective community participation. She worked for three years in Liberia as the Chief Technical Advisor for the United Nations Self-Help Village Development Project. Dr. Bruce also served as US Peace Corps Director in Liberia and has taught at the City University of New York, Temple, Harvard, Northeastern, and Howard Universities, as well as at the Universities of Massachusetts-Boston, California-Los Angeles, Liberia, and Wellesley College.

"Dr. Bruce was awarded a PhD in Social Anthropology from Harvard University. In addition, she studied linguistics at the University of California-Los Angeles, where she was certified to teach English as a Second Language. She received her BA in English from California State University-Los Angeles and an AA in Drama from Los Angeles City College.

"Dr. Bruce also serves on the Boards of the Coalition for an International Criminal Court, the Friends of Liberia, the Global Policy Forum, the International Rescue Committee, the Refugee Women's Network, Solar Cookers International, the US Committee for Refugees, and the Women's Foreign Policy Group." 


 * Member, Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Advisory Committee
 * Trustee, Migration Policy Institute
 * Former Director, Global Policy Forum