George Mitchell, Senior Fellow
U.S. Senator
Senator George Mitchell, Senior Fellow, was appointed to the United States Senate in 1980 to complete the unexpired term of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, who resigned to become Secretary of State. He was elected to a full term in the Senate in 1982. While in the Senate, Senator Mitchell served on the Finance, Veterans Affairs, and Environment and Public Works Committees. More recently, Senator Mitchell served as Chairman of the Peace Negotiations in Northern Ireland. Under his leadership a historic accord, ending decades of conflict, was agreed to by the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom and the political parties of Northern Ireland. In May 1998, the agreement was overwhelmingly endorsed by the voters of Ireland, North and South, in a referendum. At the request of President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Senator Mitchell served as Chairman of an International Fact-Finding Committee on violence in the Middle East. The committee’s recommendation, widely known as the Mitchell Report, was endorsed by the Bush Administration, the European Union and by many other governments. Senator Mitchell received his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College in 1954, and then served in Berlin, Germany as an officer in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps until 1956. He received an LL.B. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1960. Senator Mitchell was appointed Senior Fellow of CICR July 1, 2002.