The Nobel Peace Prize Forum exists for just one reason: to inspire peacemaking by celebrating the work of Nobel Peace Prize winners. And a unique gift from the Norwegian Nobel Institute, who administers the Nobel Peace Prize, makes it all possible: the Forum is the Institute’s only program or affiliation outside of Norway.

 

When it began in 1989, the Forum’s founding colleges (Augsburg, Augustana, Concordia, St. Olaf, and Luther) envisioned an annual conference that would inspire students. Twenty-five years after Norman Borlaug electrified that first Forum, all expectations have been surpassed. The Forum is a dynamic global event that brings thousands of professionals, citizens and students together with Nobel Peace Prize winners and international leaders.

Executive Director Maureen Reed is a vigorous long-time proponent of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. She has attended nearly every Forum since it began in 1989 and co-chaired its Executive Committee from 2005-2011. For her, the annual Forum is “a respite and a retreat – the unique opportunity to renew my spirit and re-energize my mind.”

A graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Dr. Reed practiced medicine for twenty years in the Twin Cities and is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps. She served on the 2007 Minnesota Health Care Transformation Task Force. Maureen Reed was twice elected to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents and also served as its chair. She holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the School of Public Health and the School of Medicine, and she a past chair of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association.