Nile Kenya

William Ury is an American author, negotiation expert, and academic, born on March 29, 1950, in New York City. He is best known as the co-author of the influential book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (1981), alongside Roger Fisher and Bruce Patton. This seminal work introduced the concept of principled negotiation and has sold millions of copies worldwide. Ury graduated from Yale University and earned a Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University, where he also co-founded the Harvard Program on Negotiation.

Throughout his career, Ury has served as a negotiation advisor and mediator in various global conflicts, including those in the Middle East and the Balkans. He has authored several other notable books on negotiation, such as Getting Past No (1991) and The Power of a Positive No (2007). In addition to his academic work, Ury founded the Abraham Path Initiative, promoting cultural exchange along a trail that retraces the steps of Abraham in the Middle East.

Ury’s contributions to negotiation have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Whitney North Seymour Award from the American Arbitration Association and the Distinguished Service Medal from the Russian Parliament. He is also known for his TED talk titled “The Walk from No to Yes,” which has garnered widespread attention.