We are pleased to announce Lauren Dahler, a third-year Eminence Fellow at Ohio State, has been awarded the 2022-23 Chadwick F. Alger Student Support Fund scholarship. 

Dahler, a double major in Public Affairs and World Politics with minors in French and History, is interested in equitable policy and social change, specifically as it relates to how refugees and women seek justice and heal after a conflict, specifically in North Africa and Southwest Asia. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career as a peacebuilding practitioner at an NGO that emphasizes community-led initiatives, culturally competent policy, and justice and healing for survivors.

“Lauren is an Eminence Scholar, she has been actively pursuing scholarship in the fields of peace and conflict transformation, she is interested in working with women refugees in Kenya, we believed experience in neighboring country Rwanda would give her exposure to the challenges and opportunities for individuals and communities attempting to transition from violence. Additionally, we trust and highly respect Mershon faculty affiliate Hollie Nzitatira's on-going research in Rwanda and (a) wanted to support her study abroad program there and we also (b) believed Lauren's scholarly strength and personal character would infuse and encourage the team's learning process.  We are very excited to support Lauren with the first ever Alger Peace and Conflict Resolution Student Support Fund scholarship.”

– Associate Director and Co-Director of the Conflict to Peace Lab, Teri Murphy.

About the Fund

The Chadwick F. Alger Peace and Conflict Resolution Endowed Student Support Fund commemorates the late Chadwick Alger, professor emeritus of political science and public policy at the Mershon Center. Alger, an authority on peacebuilding and the United Nations system, was director of the Mershon Program in Transnational Intellectual Cooperation in the Policy Sciences (1971-81) and director of the Mershon Program in World Relations (1982-91).

Alger was passionate about his students and helping them engage in research, and this scholarship honors his legacy by supporting undergraduate research in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

The Alger Fund is given annually to an enrolled Ohio State student who is engaged in research on peace studies and conflict resolution or completion of a course of study focused on peace and conflict resolution.