Paula Garb, University of California, Irvine anthropology and international studies lecturer emeritus and cofounder of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, passed away on August 22 following a brief illness. She was 76 years old.

“Paula was a beautiful soul, a rare person who planted peace wherever she went,” says Daniel Brunstetter, UCI political science professor and current director of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. “As I grieve her passing, I think first of her students and the legacy that she leaves in them. I think of all the projects she was involved in which stand as a testimony to her dedication to make the world a better place. And I think of how meeting her early in my career, when I first arrived at UCI, opened new pathways that I had never imagined.”

Garb earned her bachelor's and master's in history at Moscow State University in 1980 and 1982, respectively, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in anthropology at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Anthropology in 1990. She joined the UCI School of Social Sciences in 1991 as a lecturer in both the Department of Anthropology and the Program in International Studies, which would later become the Department of Global and International Studies.

Over the next nearly three decades, she facilitated citizen dialogues and taught peaceful problem-solving skills in conflict zones in the South Caucasus and Middle East. Her work as a peace practitioner and researcher led to more than 30 publications in books and journals, and a lifelong commitment promoting the mainstreaming of peace literacy worldwide. She taught courses in mediation, conflict resolution, and civic and community engagement at UCI, and gang mediation and negotiation at UCI as well as California State University, Los Angeles. She directed several academic programs on the Irvine campus, including the Mediation Certificate Program, minor in conflict resolution, and minor in civic and community engagement.

"Paula Garb was my professor, the first one who ever told me to just call her 'Paula,' and not 'Professor' or 'Doctor,'" says christina ong, '14 UCI political science and minor in civic and community engagement and recent University of Pittsburgh sociology Ph.D. recipient. "Paula had an incredible ability to make her students feel seen and break down typical hierarchical barriers. She shared so much of herself in the classroom in the hopes that students would be inspired to pursue a life centered around conflict resolution and peacebuilding."

In 2000, Garb, alongside community members Marlett Phillips and Lori Warmington, convened an international conference about best practices in citizen peacebuilding which served as the catalyst for the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding founded later that year. For two decades, Garb served as the center’s co-director, shepherding international efforts to promote peace research, peace education and sustained action for a safer world.

“After taking Paula’s courses and getting involved with her work at the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, she quickly became a steadfast role model and dear friend. Once you knew Paula, it was hard to not feel loved by her and the community that she helped build,” says ong. “If you had an idea, she wanted to hear it. If you had a concern, she wanted to help you work through it. She was the kind of professor that all young students finding their way in the world need. I am so lucky to have been one of those students.”

David Snow, UCI Distinguished Professor Emeritus of sociology, worked alongside Garb for many years as co-director of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding. Together, they provided links to peacemakers and initiatives around the world, particularly in Russia, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus, including Georgia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia; sponsored associated conferences and speakers; provided the institutional home for the Kugelman Fellowships for graduate research on conflict and its resolution around the world; sponsored the undergraduate Students for Global Peacebuilding; and honored global peacemakers such as Father Gregory Boyle, former President Jimmy Carter, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

"Paula’s passionate commitment to conflict resolution was manifest in all she did, including her creation of the School of Social Sciences minor in conflict resolution, which she oversaw until her retirement," he says. "Paula was a rarity in the conflictual world in which we live in that the salience of her dedication to finding ways to nurture peace and hope never wavered. It was a passion that infused her life and will remain an enduring inspiration to me and all of those with whom she was associated."

Following her retirement in 2016, Garb remained an active member of the center’s board. She was also a senior fellow at the Center for Peacemaking Practice at George Mason University.

“Mentor, teacher, scholar, changemaker, peacebuilder... hers have been amazing footsteps to journey alongside,” says Brunstetter. “And the journey continues, as her legacy lives in all of us.”

A celebration of life is being planned and details will be shared as they become available.

In addition, a Memorial Giving link has been established. Contributions will honor Paula Garb’s legacy by fostering future peacebuilders to follow in her footsteps. Donations may be made online or by check payable to the UCI Foundation.

UCI School of Social Sciences
ATTN: Melissa Churlonis
3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA 92697-5100

c/o Paula Garb Memorial Gift