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Marshall Rosenberg
Visionary Peacemaker

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Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD. (1934-2015) founded and was for many years the Director of Educational Services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international peacemaking organization. Dr. Rosenberg passed on Feb. 7, 2015.

During his life he authored fifteen books, including the bestselling Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, which has sold more than seven million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 40 languages, with more translations in the works.

Dr. Rosenberg has received a number of awards for his Nonviolent Communication work including:

  • 2014: Champion of Forgiveness Award from the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance
  • 2006: Bridge of Peace Nonviolence Award from the Global Village Foundation
  • 2005: Light of God Expressing in Society Award from the Association of Unity Churches
  • 2004: Religious Science International Golden Works Award
  • 2004: International Peace Prayer Day Man of Peace Award by the Healthy, Happy Holy (3HO) Organization
  • 2002: Princess Anne of England and Chief of Police Restorative Justice Appreciation Award
  • 2000: International Listening Association Listener of the Year Award

Growing up in a turbulent Detroit neighborhood, Dr. Rosenberg developed a keen interest in new forms of communication that would provide peaceful alternatives to the violence he encountered. His interest led to a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1961, where he studied under Carl Rogers. His subsequent life experience and study of comparative religion motivated him to develop the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) process.

Dr. Rosenberg first used the NVC process in federally funded school integration projects to provide mediation and communication skills training during the 1960s. The Center for Nonviolent Communication, which he founded in 1984, now has hundreds of certified NVC trainers and supporters teaching NVC in more than 40 countries around the globe.

A dedicated teacher, peacemaker and visionary leader, Dr. Rosenberg led NVC workshops and international intensive trainings for tens of thousands of people in over 60 countries across the world and provided training and initiated peace programs in a number of war-torn areas including Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, the Middle East, Colombia, Serbia, Croatia, and Northern Ireland. He worked tirelessly with such groups as educators, managers, mental health and health care providers, lawyers, military officers, prisoners, police and prison officials, clergy, government officials, and individual families.

A sought-after presenter, Rosenberg’s teaching style was both intimate and powerful. What set Marshall apart from the thousands of conflict resolution and communication trainers he has influenced was his exceptional capacity to role-play interactions with the audience. Whether it was an argument between warring spouses, or warring villages, a dialogue between a victim and perpetrator, or modeling an interaction between a counselor and her patient, these powerful role-plays offered a unique, moving and powerful experience to all who heard them.