Cortright, David
Born: November 15, 1946, in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Peace Activist, Editor, Researcher, Professor
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: East Stroudsburg, Monroe County

Keywords: Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy; East Stroudsburg; Fourth Freedom Forum; Goshen College; New York University; Notre Dame; SANE; Union Institute; Vietnam War

Abstract: Born in 1946 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, David Cortright earned a Ph.D. before fighting in the Vietnam War for three years. He began to write after the war, and most of his works focus on promoting peace. Cortright currently lives in Bristol, Indiana.

Biography:

David Cortright was born November 15, 1946, in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to Vernon and Margaret Cortright. In 1970, he married Monica Heilbrunn and the couple divorced in 1973. Cortright married Tricia Cameron in 1974. The couple later divorced and Cortright married Karen Jacob. He has three children.

Cortright received a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1968. He also earned an M.A. from New York University in 1970 and a Ph.D. from the Union Institute in 1975. During his education, Cortright served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971 and fought in the Vietnam War—a war he felt was evil and unreasonable. He developed strong feelings against the war, and as a result published his first book, Soldiers in Revolt: The American Military Today, in 1975. The book depicts rebellion within troops at war.

Cortright is most noted for his advocacy of peace. The majority of his works focus on the negative aspects of war and methods to promote peace in the world. He has used writing as an outlet to overcome his experiences with war and encourage others to avoid conflict however possible. In addition to writing, Cortright has served as the president of the Fourth Freedom Forum at Goshen College. The goal of this organization is to create a more civilized world with laws and to avoid military action. He also spent 10 years as the director of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE), a disarmament organization.

Cortright’s experience from the Vietnam War and writing has made him an authority on peacemaking. He is especially knowledgeable on the use of incentives and sanctions as a means of peacemaking. Cortright also uses his knowledge to teach in the Peace Studies Department at Goshen College and at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Cortright currently resides in Bristol, Indiana.

Works:

Books

• Soldiers in Revolt: The American Military Today. Garden City: Anchor Press, 1975.
• With Strom Thurmond. Unions in the Military? Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1977.
• Left Face: Solider Unions and Resistance Movements in Modern Armies. (with Max Watts) New York: Greenwood Press, 1991.
• Peace Works: The Citizen’s Role in Ending the Cold War. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993.
• The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990’s. (with others) Boulder: L. Rienner, 2000.

Editing

• Economic Sanctions: Panacea or Peacebuilding in a Post-Cold War World. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995.
• India and the Bomb: Public Opinion and Nuclear Options. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996
• The Price of Peace: Incentives and International Conflict Prevention. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.
• Pakistan and the Bomb Public Opinion and Nuclear Options. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998.
• Smart Sanction: Restructuring UN Policy in Iraq. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.

Sources:

• “About the Forum.” Fourth Freedom Forum. 2001. 14 June 2002. <http://www.fourthfreedom.org/php/a-index.php>.
• Cortright, David. Peace Works: the Citizen’s Role in Ending the Cold War. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993.
• Cortright, David. Smart Sanction: Restructuring UN Policy in Iraq. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
• “Cortright, David.” The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. 28 May 2002. 7 June 2002. <http://www.nd.edu/~krocinst/people/cortright.html>.
• “David Cortright.” The Gale Literature Database: Contemporary Authors. 24 Sept. 2002. 8 June 2006. <http://www.galenet.com>.

This biography was prepared by Mandy Criswell, Summer 2002.