Sean CLEARY

Biography

Sean Cleary is Chairman of Strategic Concepts (Pty) Ltd, Managing Director of the Centre for Advanced Governance, Chairman of Atlantic Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a Member of the Supervisory Board of Think Tools AG, and a Director of Companies.

He served in the South African Navy on the staff of the Commander Maritime Defence before commencing a diplomatic career in the Middle East, USA and Namibia. As Chief Director in Namibia in the mid-1980s, he initiated negotiations between all political parties, the release of political prisoners and the adoption of a Bill of Rights, paving the way for independence.

He lectures on global corporate strategy at the Graduate Schools of Business at the Universities of South Africa and the Witwatersrand, the Graduate Institute of Management and Technology, Henley Management College, the Gordon Institute of Business Science of the University of Pretoria, and the International Centre for Management Development; and on conflict resolution and development economics at a number of U.S and European universities and institutes.

He is a lecturer on the National Security Management Course at the South African Defence Staff College and the Air Force Staff College, a research associate of the South African Institute of International Affairs, a Faculty Member of the World Economic Forum, a member of the WEF's African Task Force, a Trustee of the South African Foundation for Conciliation and the Peace and Reconstruction Foundation, and an EXCO Member of the NEPAD (New Programme for Africa's Development) Business Steering Group.

He was a member of the Facilitating and Preparatory Committees of the South African Peace Accord and Chairman of the Working Group on the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Organizations, and served on national Advisory Committees in Namibia.

He is a recipient of academic and public service awards and has been widely published in South African, German, Portuguese and U.S. journals. He graduated in social sciences and law at the University of South Africa, after studies at the University of Cape Town and Pahlavi University in Iran, and holds an MBA from Henley Management College at Brunel University in the United Kingdom. He is married to Natalie and has a grown son and daughter.

This biography was last updated on June 26, 2006