Roméo Dallaire is a retired Canadian Senator, a retired Canadian Army Lieutenant-General, a devoted humanitarian, and an outspoken advocate and champion of human rights. During his distinguished military career, General Dallaire commanded the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Rwanda prior to and during the 1994 genocide. His courage and leadership during this ill-fated mission have earned him worldwide recognition.

Born in Denecamp, Holland, General Dallaire was raised and educated in Canada. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada and also attended the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the UK Higher Command and Staff Course. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec, and a Commander of
the Order of Military Merit.

General Dallaire is the recipient of honorary doctorates and fellowships from over three dozen universities in Canada, the United States, and abroad. Among the many awards and honors he has received are the United States Legion of Merit, the Pearson Peace Medal, the Edita and Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture Award, the Harvard University Humanist Award, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Elie Wiesel Award.

General Dallaire is the author of several best-selling books His harrowing experiences in Rwanda are detailed in Shake Hands with the Devil—the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda which provided the basis for an Emmy Award-winning documentary, as well as a major motion picture of the same name. It has also been entered into evidence in war crimes tribunals trying the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide. In They Fight Like Soldiers: They Die Like Children—the Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers, General Dallaire introduces the child soldier phenomenon and current efforts to end the practice, a cause to which he has dedicated the rest of his life.

Book signing will follow the lecture.