Learn how to negotiate like a diplomat, think on your feet like an improv performer, and master job offer negotiation like a professional athlete when you download a copy of our FREE special report, Negotiation Skills: Negotiation Strategies and Negotiation Techniques to Help You Become a Better Negotiator, from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

the great negotiator

What is The Great Negotiator Award?

The Great Negotiator Award was established in 2000 by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School to recognize individuals whose lifetime achievements in negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant impact on society.

To earn the Great Negotiator Award, a person must be a distinguished leader whose lifelong accomplishments in the field of dispute resolution and negotiation have had compelling and lasting results.

Over the years, the Great Negotiator Award has recognized a diverse array of distinguished negotiators from around the world. Tommy Koh, Singapore’s former ambassador to the United States and United Nations, led one of the most contentious global environmental negotiations to a successful conclusion.

Artists Christo and Jean-Claude overcame the objections of four mayors, as well as numerous boards and New York City residents, to pull off one of the greatest, most controversial public art installations of all time throughout Central Park.

To help students and professionals learn valuable lessons from these highly skilled negotiators, our Teaching Negotiation Resource Center (TNRC) offers the Great Negotiator Series, featuring in-depth negotiation case studies such as Stuart Eizenstat: Negotiating the Final Accounts of World War II and Lakhdar Brahimi: Negotiating a New Government for Afghanistan.

Most students of negotiation will never find themselves in the same situations as the notables they study. However, a focus on the Great Negotiator stories reveals the constant oscillation of varying negotiation dynamics and the way they require enormous creativity on the part of the negotiators. There is technique and there is art.

We don’t want students to get trapped in an unrealistic expectation that the same approach will see them through each time. The stories of the great negotiators make this point quite clearly.

To learn more about negotiation and improve your skills, you can download a complimentary copy of our special report, Negotiation Skills: Negotiation Strategies and Negotiation Techniques to Help You Become a Better Negotiator, right now!

 

The following items are tagged the great negotiator:

New Great Negotiator Case and Video: Christiana Figueres, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary

Posted by & filed under Teaching Negotiation.

The Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School periodically presents the Great Negotiator Award to an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. In 2022, PON selected Christiana Figueres as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award for her efforts to build … Read More

Beyond the Back Table: Working with People and Organizations to Get to Yes

Posted by & filed under Beyond the Back Table.

NEW ONLINE PROGRAM! BEYOND THE BACK TABLE: WORKING WITH PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS TO GET TO YES February 24–25, 2025 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET

Go Beyond the Back Table In this two-day online course, you will step back to look beyond the negotiating table and discover how to understand and manage the individuals and groups who are not … Read More

Learn from the Best with the Great Negotiator Case Studies

Posted by & filed under Teaching Negotiation.

No one can provide perspective on conflict resolution like experts who have been involved in some of the world’s most complex negotiations. Since 2001, the Program on Negotiation (PON) has bestowed the Great Negotiator Award upon distinguished leaders whose lifelong accomplishments in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution have had compelling and lasting results. The Great … Read More

Beyond the Back Table: Working with People and Organizations to Get to Yes

Posted by & filed under Beyond the Back Table.

NEW ONLINE PROGRAM! BEYOND THE BACK TABLE: WORKING WITH PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS TO GET TO YES September 18–19, 2024 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET

Go Beyond the Back Table In this two-day online course, you will step back to look beyond the negotiating table and discover how to understand and manage the individuals and groups who are not … Read More

Negotiation Case Studies: Teach By Example

Posted by & filed under Teaching Negotiation.

There are good negotiators and there are great ones. Once a year, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School selects an outstanding individual who embodies what it means to be a truly great negotiator. To earn the Great Negotiator Award, the honoree must be a distinguished leader whose lifelong accomplishments in the field of dispute … Read Negotiation Case Studies: Teach By Example

Learn from the Best with the Great Negotiator

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

No one can provide perspective on conflict resolution like experts who have been involved in some of the world’s most complex negotiations. Since 2001, the Program on Negotiation (PON) has bestowed the Great Negotiator Award upon distinguished leaders whose lifelong accomplishments in the fields of negotiation and dispute resolution have had compelling and lasting results. The Great … Read Learn from the Best with the Great Negotiator

2017 Great Negotiator Award Goes to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos

Posted by & filed under Events, Great Negotiator Award, Leadership Skills.

On September 20th, Harvard Law School awarded the prestigious annual Great Negotiator award to Nobel Prize Winner, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, on behalf of the Program on Negotiation. This award recognizes those whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. Santos is also a … Read More

Arbitration vs Mediation: Using Teambuilding and ADR in Negotiation

Posted by & filed under Mediation.

During his years as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of State, one of James A. Baker, III’s, goals was to encourage the free-market reforms that Communist Party of the Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had launched in the late 1980s. One day during his tenure, a high-level Bush administration official commented in the press that … Read More

Great Negotiators vs. Great Negotiations: The Program on Negotiation’s Great Negotiator Teaching Series

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Teaching negotiation using case studies focused on the efforts of great negotiators can help achieve several pedagogical goals at the same time. Developed by Professor James Sebenius of Harvard Business School, the Program on Negotiation’s Great Negotiator case study series, available from the PON Clearinghouse, highlights the lessons learned by each recipient of PON’s Great … Read More

Case Study: Teaching with a Powerful Negotiated Agreement

Posted by & filed under Teaching Negotiation.

What do a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the CEO of an international financial advisory firm, and the former United States ambassador to the United Nations have in common? They’ve all received the Great Negotiator Award. Every year, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School bestows this prestigious honor on distinguished leaders whose lifelong accomplishments in … Read More

James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work

Posted by & filed under Daily, Events, PON Film Series.

The PON Film Series is pleased to present: James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work

Join us for a screening and discussion with writer and director Eric Stange, moderated by Professor James Sebenius, Harvard Business School   Wednesday, March 11, 2015 7:00 PM Langdell Hall South, Harvard Law School Free admission; public welcome. Refreshments will be served.   About the film: Narrated by Tom Brokaw, James … Read James Baker: The Man Who Made Washington Work

Great Negotiator 2014 Tommy Koh Describes Negotiation as an Art and Science

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Program on Negotiation and Harvard Kennedy School’s Future of Diplomacy Project Great Negotiator award winner for 2014, Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh, wrote an article about his experience winning the Great Negotiator award from Harvard University and the insights into negotiation he offered while honored here in Cambridge, Massachusetts. … Read More

Program on Negotiation to honor Ambassador Tommy Koh as 2014 Great Negotiator

Posted by & filed under International Negotiation.

Join us for a conversation with Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore, the recipient of the 2014 Great Negotiator Award. This public program will feature panel discussions with Ambassador Koh and faculty from the Program on Negotiation and the Future of Diplomacy Project. The award recognizes Ambassador Koh for his work as chief negotiator for the … Read More

Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore Named the Great Negotiator by the Program on Negotiation and the Future of Diplomacy Project

Posted by & filed under International Negotiation.

The Program on Negotiation, an inter-university consortium of Harvard, MIT, and Tufts, and Harvard’s Future of Diplomacy Project have named Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore the recipient of the 2014 Great Negotiator Award. In public events at Harvard planned for the afternoon of Thursday, April 10, 2014 (details to be announced), participants will honor Koh’s … Read More

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School: Three Decades of Scholarship and Practice

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Founded in 1983, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School is a pioneer in the fields of negotiation, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. In commemoration of the program’s 30th anniversary this year, the Program on Negotiation is proud to present a video describing many of PON’s various educational and research activities. According to Chair Robert Mnookin, … Read More

Great Negotiator Award 2012

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, in conjunction with the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School, honored distinguished statesman and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III as the recipient of their Great Negotiator Award for 2012. Secretary Baker served under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992. A … Read Great Negotiator Award 2012

2012 Great Negotiator Award event will honor former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III on March 29th

Posted by & filed under International Negotiation, News.

The Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School and the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) will jointly honor former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III with the 2012 Great Negotiator Award on Thursday, March 29, 2012, at the Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School. The Great Negotiator Award … Read More

2012 Great Negotiator event will honor James A. Baker, III

Posted by & filed under Events, International Negotiation.

2012 Great Negotiator Event honoring

James A. Baker, III Thursday, March 29, 2012, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School This event is free and open to the public. Join former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III as he discusses with faculty his most challenging negotiations, including the efforts that resulted in the Madrid Conference, the … Read More

The Gilad Shalit-Palestinian prisoners exchange: the process, deal and implications

Posted by & filed under Events, International Negotiation, Middle East Negotiation Initiatives.

The Middle East Negotiation Initiative at PON invites you to a panel discussion on The Gilad Shalit-Palestinian prisoners exchange: the process, deal and implications November 7, 2011 • 12:15 – 2 p.m. Pound 100 • Harvard Law School Please bring your lunch. Drinks and cookies will be served. PANELISTS Robert H. Mnookin is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at Harvard … Read More

Video: 2010 Great Negotiator Martti Ahtisaari

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation, Resources, Videos.

On September 27, 2010, the Program on Negotiation presented former President of Finland the Great Negotiator Award. This video shows a portion of the event, including part of a discussion with President Ahtisaari regarding the final status for Kosovo.

To learn more about the Great Negotiator Award, click here. To see more PON negotiation videos, click here. … Read Video: 2010 Great Negotiator Martti Ahtisaari

Remembering Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, a Great Negotiator

Posted by & filed under Daily, Great Negotiator Award.

In 2004, the Program on Negotiation selected Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as the recipient of its Great Negotiator Award. “He was an outstanding and entrepreneurial diplomat, and we are so sorry to learn of his sudden death,” said Professor Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation. “During the day Richard Holbrooke spent with us, … Read More

New PON Teaching Materials About the Work of Martti Ahtisaari, 2010 Great Negotiator Award Recipient

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation, Negotiation Skills, Pedagogy at PON.

The Program on Negotiation’s 2010 Great Negotiator Award was given to former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari, for his many significant achievements in the fields of negotiation and diplomacy. He was central to the Namibian independence negotiations in the late 1980s. He also served as chief United Nations negotiator to Kosovo from 2005-2006, and was instrumental … Read More

Former President Martti Ahtisaari honored with Great Negotiator Award!

Posted by & filed under Daily, Events, International Negotiation.

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School Will Honor Former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari with the 2010 Great Negotiator Award Co-sponsored with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Great Negotiator Event Offers Real-World Negotiation Discussion to All Students For Immediate Release CAMBRIDGE, MA (September 21,  2010) The Program on Negotiation … Read More

The 2010 Great Negotiator

Posted by & filed under Daily, Events, News.

On September 27, 2010, Nobel Peace Prize recipient (2008) and former President of Finland (1994-2000) Martti Ahtisaari will be honored with the 2010 Great Negotiator Award by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the Future of Diplomacy Project. Martti Ahtisaari will participate in a faculty led discussion in Spangler Auditorium at Harvard … Read The 2010 Great Negotiator

PON saddened by the death of artist and Great Negotiator, Jeanne-Claude

Posted by & filed under Daily, Events, Great Negotiator Award, Negotiation Skills, News.

“The Program on Negotiation is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jeanne-Claude, half of the dynamic and brilliant artistic partnership of Christo and Jeanne-Claude,” commented Robert H. Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. “In September 2008, we honored Christo and Jeanne-Claude as the Program on Negotiation’s “Great Negotiators”. … Read More

Program on Negotiation saddened by the loss of 2007 Great Negotiator, Bruce Wasserstein

Posted by & filed under Daily, Great Negotiator Award, News.

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School was saddened to learn of the death of Bruce Wasserstein, PON’s 2007 Great Negotiator. The Great Negotiator Award is  given to recognize an individual whose lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact. Wasserstein, Chairman and CEO of  … Read More

Brahimi Receives 2002 Great Negotiator Award

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi (middle) with James Sebenius (left) and Jeswald Salacuse at Harvard Business School on October 2, 2002

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2002 Great Negotiator Award is Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan. Ambassador Brahimi is a … Read Brahimi Receives 2002 Great Negotiator Award

George Mitchell Recieves First Great Negotiator Award

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

On April 7, 2000, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School honored former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell with the first Great Negotiator Award. Mitchell was recognized for his role as a master coalition builder at home and abroad. Under his leadership the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom and the political parties of … Read More