We are excited to announce that Matt Johnsen candidate of District 7910 and the Worcester Rotary Club has been selected for the Scholarship at Chulalongkorn University starting in the summer of 2018. 
This is the first time that a District 7910 candidate has been selected from applicants all over the world. Dr. Matthew Johnsen is currently Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Social Innovation at Worcester State University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Dr. Johnsen received his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. in Sociology at North Carolina State University. Recently, he has been involved with the encouragement and promotion of social enterprises, social businesses, and cooperatives through both the Center for Social Innovation and the Social Venture Collaborative.
Johnsen looks forward to traveling to Asia to participate as a Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University. Upon completion of the Certificate Program, Dr. Johnsen intends to structure a course in Peace and Conflict Resolution to be taught locally. He is married to Frances Williams and has two children, Erik Johnsen and Mara Lyons, and two grandchildren, Grace Johnsen and Steven Lyons.
Through academic training, practice, and global networking opportunities, the Rotary Peace Center’s program develops leaders who become catalysts for peace, conflict prevention and resolution. These fellowships cover tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and all internship and field-study expenses.
In just over a decade, the Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,000 fellows for careers in peacebuilding. Many of them are serving as leaders at international organizations or have started their own foundations.
The Rotary Peace Center, at prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, was established in 2004/5 to provide a three month, professional development, certificate program twice annually to individuals currently working in related fields. During the three month course, scholars are introduced to 30 leading world educators in the field. Twenty five classmates, prior graduates, and instructors form a network with access to world scholars, peers in the field and a growing body of academic work in Peace and Conflict Resolution, in order to support each graduate’s future work.
Seeking an immediate impact from their Peace graduates, Rotary International selects scholarship candidates who have established themselves as leaders or who are on a leadership track in their occupation.