Major General John S. Kem (Rtd., U.S. Army) has joined the Advisory Board of the AUN's Center for Conflict Analysis, Early Warning and Peacebuilding (C-CAEWP). General Kem was the 51st Commandant of the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Army War College provides the highest-level professional education for senior army officers focusing on leadership and national security at the strategic level. MG Kem worked closely with President Ensign, when she was at Dickinson College, to develop a Master’s degree in Disaster Management.
General Kem was commissioned in 1985 through the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, where he graduated as a distinguished cadet and earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. He later earned a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Business Administration (Kellogg Business School) from Northwestern University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
General Kem previously served as the first Provost of the Army University and Deputy Commandant of the Command and General Staff College (CGSC). He oversaw the reorganization of the Army's education enterprise into a university structure, maximizing efforts to achieve valid academic credit for soldiers' education and experience, consolidating and improving the Curriculum and Faculty Development Programs, and developing the Army University Press, the publishing arm of the Army University that includes "Military Review," "The NCO Journal," and the Combat Studies Institute.
General Kem will be joining a distinguished Advisory Council made up of leading experts, local community leaders, leading clerics, and scholars with proven track records. Advisory Council members conduct three main activities:
- Peer-review C-CAEWP original research to enhance research quality and reach,
- Guide and advise C-CAEWP peacebuilding and community resilience initiatives and research capacity-building efforts.
- Author C-CAEWP products distilling research and thought leadership into actionable recommendations for policy and practice.
The mission of the C-CAEWP is to develop and deliver high-quality, methodologically rigorous research and insights on food insecurity, education, peace, and development in the West African Sahel region to policymakers, practitioners, and academics around the world.