September 8, 2006 Source: :
http://mediarelations.concordia.ca/mediaroom/pressreleases/2006/09/007463.shtml Biography of Major Brent Beardsley MONTREAL/September 8, 2006 — Born in Ottawa and raised in Montreal, Major Brent Beardsley is a 25-year veteran of the Canadian Army. He graduated from a Pre-Arts program at Sir George Williams University (1974), completed a BA in History from Concordia University (1977), a post-graduate diploma in Education from McGill University (1978) and a Masters Degree in Applied Science in Management (1999) from the Royal Military College of Canada. Major Beardsley joined the Canadian Forces as an Infantry Officer in 1978. He has served four tours of regimental duty with operational tours in Norway, Germany and Cyprus. On extra-regimental duty he has been employed as an instructor on the Basic Officer Training Course, as a doctrine author responsible for the first draft of the first Canadian Forces Peacekeeping Manual and as the Chief Instructor of the Canadian Forces Peacekeeping Training Center. He is currently a research officer at the Canadian Forces Leadership Institute. In 1993 and 1994, before and during the genocide in Rwanda, Major Beardsley served as the Personal Staff Officer to then Major-General Romeo Dallaire, the Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. Major Beardsley was an eyewitness to the genocide in Rwanda and earlier this year testified for the prosecution in the case against Colonel Theoneste Bagasora, the alleged architect of the Rwandan Genocide, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha Tanzania.
Major Beardsley collaborated with General Dallaire in writing his best-selling book, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, which was released in Canada in the fall of 2003. Major Beardsley has also collaborated in a number of documentaries, articles and commemorative events about the Rwandan Genocide. Major Beardsley currently resides in Kingston, Ontario with his wife Margaret and children Jessica, Joshua and Jackson.
Source: Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
Phone: (514) 848-2424, ext. 2518
Cell: (514) 518-3336
Fax: (514) 848-3383
Email: Tanya.Churchmuch@concordia.ca
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