William Ury

William Ury is an American negotiator, mediator, author, and academic known for work on negotiation, conflict resolution, and mediation. He co‑founded the Harvard Negotiation Project and co‑authored influential works on interest‑based negotiation used in corporate, diplomatic, and community disputes. Ury has served as an adviser and mediator in international conflicts, tribal disputes, and labor negotiations.

Early life and education

Ury was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in a milieu connected to Yale University, Columbia University, and the intellectual communities of Boston and New York. He attended Yale University and later pursued graduate studies at Harvard University, where he became affiliated with the Harvard Negotiation Project alongside scholars from Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and Columbia Law School. During his formative years he engaged with networks that included practitioners associated with the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Aspen Institute.

Career and mediation work

Ury co‑founded the Harvard Negotiation Project with figures linked to Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, collaborating with negotiators from the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. He served as a mediator and adviser in efforts involving parties such as the Israeli government, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Russian Federation, the United States Department of State, and indigenous groups across North America. Ury has worked with corporations and institutions including IBM, General Electric, the Ford Motor Company, and the American Arbitration Association, and participated in dialogues with NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. His practice has intersected with peace processes tied to the Oslo Accords, the Camp David framework, and regional initiatives in Central America and Southeast Asia.

Major publications and concepts

Ury is best known as a co‑author of a seminal negotiation handbook produced in collaboration with authors from Harvard Law School and Stanford Law School, which introduced principles later adopted by practitioners affiliated with the Program on Negotiation, the International Mediation Institute, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He developed concepts such as the "third side" approach, which has been discussed in venues including the United Nations University, the World Economic Forum, and the Aspen Ideas Festival. His other books and essays have been published by major houses and referenced by scholars at Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and the Brookings Institution, and cited in analyses by the RAND Corporation and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Notable negotiations and projects

Ury participated in high‑profile mediation initiatives with actors such as the Israeli government, the Palestinian leadership, the Russian government, and tribal councils in Canada and the United States. He has advised negotiation teams in labor disputes involving the United Auto Workers and public sector negotiations involving municipal authorities in cities like New York City and Los Angeles. Ury contributed to community reconciliation projects linked to Truth and Reconciliation efforts in South Africa and Latin American truth commissions, and engaged with international development and peacebuilding programs associated with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and USAID.

Awards and honors

Ury has received recognition from institutions including Yale University, Harvard University, the American Arbitration Association, and professional societies such as the Association for Conflict Resolution. His contributions have been acknowledged by organizations like the Skoll Foundation, the MacArthur Network on Peacebuilding, and the Salzburg Global Seminar, and he has been invited to speak at venues including the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and major universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Stanford.

Category:American mediators Category:Harvard alumni Category:Yale University alumni