Thomas F. Schaub

Thomas F. Schaub, 63, passed away at his home in Biddeford, Maine on October 18, 2024.

He dedicated his life to helping people work across differences to build a more peaceful world.

Born in Austin, MN, Tom was the fourth of five children of Dr. August and Helen Schaub. After graduating from Pacelli High School, he studied at St. John’s University and the University of Minnesota. He received his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Tom’s professional journey began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), followed by work with the UN, USAID and Catholic Relief Services in Central and East Africa. During the Sudanese civil war, he founded the Torit Forum, coordinating critical humanitarian assistance to communities in need.

His focus then turned to building negotiation and conflict resolution capacities globally, serving as Senior Consultant with Conflict Management Inc., the first private sector negotiation consulting firm, and holding Directorships with the non-profit Conflict Management Group (CMG). Building on these experiences, he founded Conflict Management Partners (CMPartners), which he and his partners developed into a global leader in negotiation and conflict management, working across private and public sectors.

At CMPartners, Tom guided corporate leaders through high-stakes business transactions across industries including petroleum, aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, and banking. His public sector work focused on building leadership and providing strategic guidance, leading projects with the World Bank, the Nile Basin Initiative, political parties in Kashmir, the Governments of Brunei, Bahrain, Nepal, Burundi, Sri Lanka, Africa, China, and Dubai.

Perhaps Tom’s deepest impact was his extensive pro bono work, using his expertise in some of the world’s most challenging conflicts. He was dedicated to peacebuilding. In volatile regions, his quiet, self-funded diplomacy helped opposing parties find common ground and lasting peace. While much of his work remains confidential due to its sensitive nature, the ripples of his work endure in communities and countries.

At the heart of Tom’s work was his relationship with Professor Roger Fisher at Harvard, his mentor, inspiration, and collaborator. As a teaching fellow, Tom helped develop principles that would shape the field of negotiation. Working with Fisher, Founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and co-author of Getting to Yes, Tom extended Fisher’s vision of negotiation as a force for positive change. His talent for teaching these principles earned him Harvard’s Danforth Award for teaching excellence.

Tom was devoted to his wife of 20 years, Jan Dillon Schaub. They lived in Cambridge, MA, but enjoyed traveling around the world and spending time at their homes in Maine and Rancho Mirage, CA. Tom and Jan were also the co-founders of A Public Good, a non-profit dedicated to positive social and environmental impact worldwide.

At 6’ 7”, standing ramrod straight, Tom commanded the room with his physical presence, his remarkable sense of confidence, his intellect, and his quick wit. Professionally Tom was renowned for striking compromise and finding balance, but in many ways, he was a man of extremes: extremely funny, extremely generous, extremely compassionate, extremely curious, extremely intelligent, and extremely loving. His enormous heart, irreverent humor, and signature booming laugh will be missed by his surviving family, including his mother Helen, his siblings Patricia, James, Janette (Ken), and William, his nieces and nephew Kate (Anders), Sarah, and Matt, his wife’s brother David (Jeni) and their children Brad (Morgan) and Laura (Julian), and many friends and colleagues around the world. Tom was preceded in death by his father August and his wife Jan. A joint memorial service for Tom and Jan will be held April 12, 2025 at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, MA.