Gwynne Dyer

Gwynne Dyer

Honorary Degree

Fall 2002 Convocation

Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years. Born in Newfoundland in 1943, he received degrees from Canadian, American and British universities, finishing with a Ph.D. in Military and Middle Eastern History from the University of London. He served in three navies and held academic appointments at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Oxford University before becoming a journalist in 1973.

Since then, his major activity has been his twice-weekly column on international affairs, which is published by 175 papers in some 45 countries. It is translated into more than a dozen languages.

Dyer’s first television series, the seven-part documentary War, was aired in 45 countries in the mid-80s. War examined the nature, evolution and consequences of warfare. The series won an ACTRA Award and the Public Jury’s Grand Prize at the International Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. One episode, The Profession of Arms, was nominated for an Academy Award. The accompanying book, also titled War, won the Columbia University School of Journalism award in 1986.

After the War series, Dyer produced another television documentary: The Defence of Canada, an examination of Canada's military role on the international scene. He served as a military commentator in Canada during the Gulf War and in 1994 his series The Human Race was broadcast nationally on the CBC. It was a personal enquiry into the roots, nature and future of human politics and the threat posed by tribalism, nationalism and technology to the world's environment. Other works include Protection Force, a three-part series on peacekeepers in Bosnia, first aired in 1995.

Dyer has been making radio documentaries since the late ‘70s. Notable recent ones include The Gorbachev Revolution, a seven-hour series based on Dyer’s experiences in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in 1987-90, and Millennium, a six-hour series on the emerging global culture.

He now makes his home in London, England.