Trained professionals would have the capacity to intervene in conflicts to facilitate a resolution satisfactory to each disputant. The first element in training should be a theoretical understanding of roles in conflict. Skills in establishing and maintaining roles as credible outsiders must also be developed. The training should focus on conflict and the conditions of its resolution, not on specific issues or levels of analysis. The Center for Conflict Resolution at George Mason University (Virginia), established to produce professional conflict managers, has four components: classroom instruction, laboratory and simulation workshops, field work, and an internship. The program requires 2 years of full-time or 4 years of part-time study, leading to a master of science degree in conflict management. The program's central feature is its ability to call on any of the university's disciplines to provide models and tools for the problemsolving analysis of conflicts. It combines this with the use of the skills and knowledge of institutions and practitioners of third-party intervention. This integration of theory and practice should benefit both the academic and professional communities. Summaries of other national and international efforts supporting the professionalization of conflict management are supplied, along with a list of 23 references.