ABSTRACT
After graduation, with a PhD in hand, the author decided to pursue an unconventional professional path as a researcher-practitioner, not as a university professor. How could he use what he had learned to make the world a little bit better? Based on his graduate studies, two important areas became obvious: international negotiation processes and strengthening good governance practices. These are fields where he conducted much research and applied his findings in real-world settings in over 40 countries. How he made his career decisions and some of his early research and practice are discussed.
