Peter Walker

Faculty

Image of Peter Walker

Associate Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Director, Alan Shawn Feinstein International Center
Former head, Southeast Asian Regional Office, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Creator of the World Disasters Report

Until recently, Peter Walker headed up the Feinstein Famine Center. But he concluded that the name had to change, as it became vividly clear that famine was just one grim outcome of a host of interlocking forces—everything from drought, war, corruption and disease, to gun trafficking, cultural conflicts, and legal, marketing and banking systems. With his interdisciplinary team of about 20 people spread across the world from Medford to Ethiopia to Afghanistan, Walker aims to develop practical, realistic, reproducible interventions that can, as he puts it, "help people live happy lives in terrible situations."

Tufts People

“Unfortunately, the world of humanitarian crisis assistance is largely driven by ideology and politics, not by hard evidence about what works. At Tufts, it’s not enough to say ‘I believe this will work.’ You’ve got to show how the data supports your case—and then show how we should put it into practice, to make real change for the people stuck at the bottom.”