Swanee Hunt's mission is to employ gender parity toward ending war and rebuilding societies and in alleviating poverty and other human suffering. Hunt grew up in Texas and earned master's degrees in psychology and religion, followed by a Doctor of Theology from Iliff School of Theology. Her early career included serving as a minister of pastoral care and founding a residential program for the mentally ill. As ambassador to Austria from 1993-1997, during the Balkan War, Hunt helped host programs aimed at stabilizing the neighboring Balkan states. Her first book, This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace, received the 2005 PEN/New England Award for nonfiction. Hunt is founder and president of the Institute for Inclusive Security, which trains women peace builders in 30 conflict regions around the globe. As the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, she teaches courses on women-led peace-building initiatives. She is chair of Hunt Alternatives Fund, which has committed more than $130 million to programs supporting social change from local to global levels. For her efforts toward world peace and gender parity, Southern Methodist University is honored to confer upon Swanee Hunt the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.