Ori Swed is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Texas Tech University. He is also the director of the Peace, War, & Social Conflict Lab. Prior to joining Texas Tech, Ori was a Lecturer at the Sociology Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his Ph.D. Ori earned his M.A. in History and a dual B.A. in History and Sociology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition, Ori worked as a private consultant in the hi-tech sector.

Ori is a political sociologist and an organization scholar. He studies the role of organizations from a global perspective, especially as it relates to peace and war and human security issues. In his work, he studies the roles of non-state actors in conflict areas, looking at private military and security companies, violent non-state actors, and aid organizations. Currently, Ori work with his research teams on two projects: 1.  Mapping the global private military and security industry 2. Terrorist organizations and the media.