When a person stands up for an ideal, they send out a tiny ripple of hope. When these ripples converge across the globe, they create a river that can sweep down the highest walls of oppression. John Shattuck, a longtime human rights warrior in some of the toughest places on the globe, challenges each of us to stand up, be a ripple, and believe in our individual and collective power to make a difference in the world. John shares his incredible experience and encourages us to engage, to vote, to do as much as we can to bring about freedom and equality for all. John Shattuck has spent more than three decades in higher education, international diplomacy, foreign policy and human rights. Shattuck served as the President and Rector of Central European University, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and Senior Fellow at Tufts University, where he taught human rights and international relations.
Shattuck served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton, playing a major role in the establishment by the United Nations of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; assisting an international coalition under UN authority to restore a democratically-elected government to Haiti; and negotiating the Dayton Peace Agreement and other efforts to end the war in Bosnia. Subsequently he served as US Ambassador to the Czech Republic, working with the Czech government to assist in overhauling the country’s legal system, and with Czech educators to support innovative civic education programs in the country’s schools and universities. In recognition of his human rights leadership, he has received the International Human Rights Award from the United Nations Association of Boston; the Ambassador’s Award from the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative; and the Tufts University Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award.
Prior to his government service, Shattuck was a Vice-President at Harvard University, taught at the Harvard Law School, and was a Research Associate at the Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard he founded the Cambridge Partnership for Public Education, and worked to expand Harvard’s role in assisting public schools. He received the Distinguished Service to Public Education Award in 1990 from the Massachusetts Board of Education, and the Yale Law School Public Service Award in 1988. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx