The thick connections between international, national, and human security challenges call for interaction across disciplines. Mershon convenes faculty and students from all fields involved analytically and/or practically with diplomacy, conflict, peacebuilding, governance, cooperative problem-solving, and related concerns. We foster conversation with practitioners and policymakers. 

Mershon is an academic center located in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University. It has no direct involvement in degree programs or course offerings. Instead, it both conducts and funds research, training, and programming activities.

The Mershon Center was formally established by The Ohio State University Trustees in 1967. It is the fulfillment of a bequest by Col. Ralph D. Mershon to the university for the exploration of matters pertaining to national security and principles of good citizenship. Much of the center’s annual operating budget comes from the Ralph D. Mershon Fund. Additional endowments support faculty chairs in national security, military history, and peace studies, along with research, outreach, and scholarships in peace studies.