Lawrence Susskind

Lawrence Susskind is Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he directs the Graduate Program in Environmental Policy and Planning; Vice-Chair for Instruction at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, which he helped found; Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program; and Founder of the Consensus Building Institute.

Professor Susskind has delivered tailored learning and organizational development solutions globally for more than two decades. Through the executive training programs at PON he has offered specialized negotiation training (i.e., Technology Negotiations, Dealing with an Angry Public, Teaching Negotiation in the Corporation) to more than 40,000 people.  He has been a visiting lecturer at more than 50 universities in 20 countries, and has published more than 70 teaching simulations, a dozen teaching videos and DVDs.

His clients have included Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard, Biogen-Idec, CSX Transportation, Reed-Elsevier, Canadian Medical Association, National Association of Pediatric Hospitals, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Eastman-Kodak, University of Michigan Health System, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, State Street Bank, Manitoba Hydro, J. W. Homes, Brown-Forman, NPD Group, Stop & Shop, Seimens, AstraZeneca and WPP.

Professor Susskind is part of mediating teams operating in four countries. He has served as a mediator in more than 50 complex disputes as well as a Special Master appointed by the Superior Court of New Jersey. He is a member of the mediation panels of the National Association of Trial Court Mediators, The International Institute for Conflict Resolution and Prevention, and the American Arbitration Association (Commercial Section).

He is the author or co-author of 20 books including Built to Win: Creating a World-Class Negotiating Organization and Multiparty Negotiation.  Two of his books, The Consensus Building Handbook and Dealing with An Angry Public, won dispute resolution book of the year awards.  Professor Susskind was given the Pioneer Award from the Association for Conflict Resolution; Distinguished Educator Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning; and the Global Environment Award by the International Association for Impact Assessment.

He received a BA from Columbia University and a Ph.D in Urban and Regional Planning from MIT in 1973.  His blog is http://theconsensusbuildingapproach.blogspot.com/