Peter S. Adler, Ph.D. recently returned to Hawaii after serving as President of The Keystone Center for nearly a decade. Adler’s specialty is multi-party negotiation and problem solving. He has worked extensively on water management and resource planning problems and mediates, writes, trains, and teaches in diverse areas of conflict management. He has worked on cases ranging from the siting of a 25-megawatt geothermal energy production facility to the resolution of construction and product liability claims involving a multi-million dollar stadium. He has extensive experience in land planning issues, water problems, marine and coastal affairs, and strategic resource management. Prior to his appointment at Keystone, Adler held executive positions with the Hawaii Justice Foundation, the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Center for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), and the Neighborhood Justice Center. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India, an instructor and Associate Director of the Hawaii Bound School, and President of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. He has been awarded the Roberston-Cunninghame Scholar in Residence Fellowship at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, a Senior Fellowship at the Western Justice Center, and was a consultant to the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.
Adler has written extensively in the field of mediation and conflict resolution. He is the co-author of Managing Scientific & Technical Information in Environmental Cases (1999); Building Trust: 20 Things You Can Do to Help Environmental Stakeholder Groups Talk More Effectively About Science, Culture, Professional Knowledge, and Community Wisdom (National Policy Consensus Center, 2002); the author of Beyond Paradise and Oxtail Soup (Ox Bow Press, 1993 and 2000) and numerous other articles and monographs. He most recently authored Eye of the Storm Leadership.
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Social Science (Sociology), The Union Institute, 1975
M.S. Community Development, University of Missouri, 1970
B.A. English and History, Roosevelt University, 1966
Served in the Peace Corps, Maharashtra, India, 1966-1968
Additional training and certifications in:
• Inter-Cultural Communication (Stanford University, 1976)
• Principles & Practices of Mediation (Neighborhood Justice Center of Atlanta, 1979)
• Natural Resources Conflict Management (ROMCOE Associates and Minerals Management Service, 1981)
• Environmental Conflict Resolution (Lawrence Susskind, 1981)
• Commercial Arbitration (American Arbitration Association, 1992)
Television Appearances