SAN DIEGO, (April 20, 2009) – Being one of the first is nothing new for University of San Diego graduate Judy Ann Kamanyi. In 2003, she graduated as part of the first class to receive a master’s degree in peace and justice studies. On May 2, she will be first graduate to receive the Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.
Kamanyi, who lives in Uganda, has worked in the public and the private sector over a period of 20 years and has been engaged in social development work at national, regional and international levels for more than a decade. She led one of the pioneer women development organizations in Uganda, Action for Development, and also headed The East African Center for Constitutional Development, a regional organization working on issues of democratic development, good governance and human rights.
“As one of the more experienced peace practitioners in the inaugural class, Judy always took the time to share her practical field experience with the other students and the professors, giving us examples and cases that illuminated our readings and helped us see the difficult choices that have to be made,” said Diana Kutlow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice senior program officer, who graduated with Kamanyi. “Since she left the program, she has worked with the military, police officers, development planners and women’s organizations to consolidate sustainable peace in northern Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. I couldn’t be more proud to consider her a friend and fellow alum.”
After graduating from USD, she returned to Uganda and worked closely with local and international civil society organizations, the government, and development partners, including bilateral and multilateral agencies, on poverty reduction, good governance, peace and conflict resolution and transitional justice. Kamanyi is passionate about gender equality and has interacted with movers and drivers of change in numerous regional and international conferences at which issues of human rights and gender equality have been deliberated. She is currently working as an advisor and consultant in her country.
Other Alumni Honors recipients for career achievement include L. Doug Robert, senior program manager for ITT Corporation; Sandra M. Cassell Farrell, retired marriage and family therapist; Denise M. Boren, a member of the Navy Nurse Corps; John M. Cappetta, president, Capital Partners, LLC; Leona Makokis, president, Blue Quills First Nations College and Patricia A. Makokis, director of Research and Curriculum Development, Blue Quills First Nations College; Richard M. Bartell, president Bartell Hotels; and Heather Raffo, award-winning playwright of “9 Parts of Desire,” about the lives of women in Iraq. Zuzana Lesenarova, 1999 NCAA women’s singles tennis champion, will be inducted into the Chet and Margeurite Pagni Athletic Hall of Fame.
USD Alumni Honors, part of the university’s 60th anniversary celebration, is a gala evening of dinner, tributes, and entertainment, honoring outstanding graduates in the areas of career and athletic achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes and volunteer service to USD.
