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US Peace Memorial Foundation |
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Michael D. Knox, Ph.D.
Chair and Founder, US Peace Memorial Foundation
Author: ENDING U.S. WARS by Honoring Americans Who Work for Peace
Michael D. Knox grew up on Grosse Ile, Michigan, and earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1974. Dr. Knox is Emeritus Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy; Affiliate Distinguished Professor, Department of Internal Medicine; and Affiliate Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Health at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida. He is currently Chair of the US Peace Memorial Foundation and Editor of the US Peace Registry.
Dr. Knox joined the USF
faculty in 1986 as Chair of the Department of Community Mental Health and has
held faculty appointments as Distinguished Professor of Mental Health Law and
Policy, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and Distinguished Professor of
Global Health, with joint appointments in Psychology and Aging
Studies. Spanning over 45 years, his academic career has focused on
issues of peace, ethics, disease prevention, death, and mental
health. He has been elected to a variety of leadership positions
nationwide and authored over 125 scholarly scholarly publications and presentations, book
chapters, and books including HIV and Community Mental Healthcare, The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Knox has been responsible for more than $50 million in grants to USF. He has served as President of the USF Faculty Senate and Chair of the Florida Advisory Council of Faculty Senates. He is founder of the Florida/Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center (1991) and the USF Center for HIV Education and Research (1988). He was the Director of both centers until his retirement in 2011. Before joining the USF faculty, he was Director of the Western Tidewater Mental Health Center and on the faculty of Eastern Virginia Medical School. In 2012, he retired his license as a clinical psychologist to volunteer his full time to the US Peace Memorial Foundation.
His long-standing peace and antiwar activities began in 1965 in opposition to the war against Vietnam. As a delegate to the 20th National Student Congress, he introduced a successful resolution to hold an antiwar demonstration in August of 1967 in front of the White House. In 1970, Knox co-founded a draft counseling center, and in 1971 he blew the whistle on prohibited classified research at the University of Michigan disclosing secret details. He provided evidence that university researchers were “perfecting weapon systems used by the military to kill and incapacitate other human beings.” Since then, he has continued to engage in speeches, writing, protests, interviews, and other actions regarding peace. He is an invited speaker nationwide on the topics of “building a culture of peace” and “honoring peace leadership.”
In 2005, Dr. Knox founded the US Peace Memorial Foundation. He directs its nationwide effort to recognize antiwar/peace leadership by writing and editing the US Peace Registry, awarding the annual US Peace Prize, providing educational programs, and eventually building a national monument - the US Peace Memorial - in Washington, DC. Dr. Knox believes that “these projects help move us toward a culture of peace as we honor the millions of thoughtful and courageous Americans who have taken a public stand against one or more U.S. wars or who have devoted their time, energy, and other resources to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts. We celebrate these role models in hopes of inspiring other Americans to speak out against war and to work for peace.”
Professor Knox is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. Fellow status in both organizations is granted “in recognition of outstanding and distinguished contributions to the science and profession of psychology.” In 2005, he was inducted into Sigma Xi, the international honor society of research scientists and engineers. In 1999, he served as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford in England, and in 2003 he represented USF at the dedication of a new university in Pune, India. For decades his biography was included in Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in America.
Dr. Knox was awarded the 2007 Anthony J. Marsella Prize for the Psychology of Peace and Social Justice at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association. The award is presented annually by Psychologists for Social Responsibility and recognized him “for more than four decades of outstanding contributions to peace and humanitarian assistance.” His work promotes cultural change, raising our awareness of efforts towards peace and increasing future opportunities to challenge the promotion of war. He has officiated at the awarding of the US Peace Prize every year since 2009.
He is the author of peace related articles including: “A Cultural Shift toward Peace: The Need for a National Symbol,” Peace and Conflict, 2009; “Honoring Peace and Antiwar Behavior: The US Peace Registry,” Peace Psychology, 2009; “World Peace: A First Step,” Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 2011; “US Peace Registry: From psychologists to comedians,” The Peace Psychologist, Summer 2019; “It’s time to memorialize peace in our public spaces,” Beyond Nuclear International, 12/08/2019; “As Monuments to War Generals Come Down, Let’s Replace Them with Monuments to Peace,” CounterPunch, 07/01/2020; “Militarism and COVID-19,” CounterPunch, 07/22/2020; and “After Nagasaki, The U.S. Did Not Choose Peace” CounterPunch, 08/10/2020. Knox is the author of ENDING U.S. WARS by Honoring Americans Who Work for Peace, published in 2021. You can read more about the antiwar/peace activities of Michael Knox in the US Peace Registry and at Wikipedia
Dr. Knox currently lives in the Tampa Bay area. John, his eldest son, is a computer and electrical engineer working in Minneapolis. His son James is a civil/structural engineer working in Orlando.
NOTE: The US Peace Memorial Foundation is not affiliated with any university or government entity. The ideas expressed on this website are the views of the Foundation or Michael Knox, and do not represent the views of any university or government entity.
US Peace Memorial Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity.
Donations to the Foundation are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
Florida registration #: CH20094. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.
Copyright 2005-2021, US Peace Memorial Foundation, Inc.