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SIPA Faculty
Elisabeth A Lindenmayer
International Affairs Building, Room 807B
Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
Phone: 212-854-3213
el2253@columbia.edu
Biography:
Elisabeth Lindenmayer, appointed Director of the UN Studies Program at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, teaches courses on the UN Security Council and peacekeeping/peacebuilding in Africa. She also serves as a Senior Advisor to the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia and teaches in the Honor's Program at New York University. Professor Lindenmayer is a member of the Advisory Panel of the Security Council Report. She also serves as a board member of the Kofi Annan Foundation and on the advisory board of the NGO STOP (Stop Trafficking of People). Professor Lindenmayer joined the UN Secretariat in 1977 and in 1992 moved to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations just prior to the dramatic expansion of peacekeeping operations in numerous volatile areas convulsed by conflict. She was on the scene at the conflicts in Somalia and Rwanda - operations which continue to capture the attention of policymakers and scholars of UN peace operations. In 1997 Professor Lindenmayer was selected to serve in the Office of Secretary General Kofi Annan as his Executive Assistant, where she served as one of his closest advisors and led the many teams which accompanied him to his political missions around the world. From 2004-2005, Professor Lindenmayer was promoted to the Assistant Secretary General level and named Deputy Chef de Cabinet, which placed her at the center of the preparations for the largest ever summit on UN reform in 2005. Upon leaving the UN, Professor Lindenmayer was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by French President Jacques Chirac. In 2007 she was honored by the U.S. Red Cross for her work in humanitarian affairs. Mrs. Lindenmayer was born in Gaoua, Burkina Faso (previously Upper Volta.) As the daughter of a French Army Officer, she grew up also in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, then French Indochina, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, as well as in France and England. She holds university degrees from the Sorbonne University, the University of Geneva and New York University.