Award of Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Quinnipiac University awarded Cheyney Ryan an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in May 2021.

"Dr. Cheyney Ryan . . . As a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, you are a global scholar of human rights, nonviolence and conflict resolution. During a distinguished career in teaching, research and service to others, you have tirelessly advanced a vision where peace supersedes war.

During the 1960s, you participated in the civil rights movement in Kentucky and Mississippi. From that very moment, your work — and your example — have inspired countless others in thought as well as deed.

As the co-founder and co-chair of the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, you have brought urgency and agency to social justice activism. As a professor at the University of Oregon, where you co-founded the Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution, you shared the value and power of critical thinking across campus and around the world.

Your transformative efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Washington Post named you a leading scholar 'on the frontier of peace and conflict studies.'

In recognition of your significant contributions to human rights and your steadfast commitment to peace on our planet, Quinnipiac University is pleased to present you with an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters, this ninth day of May, two thousand and twenty-one."