{"id":63405,"date":"2026-04-09T13:42:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=63405"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:43:05","slug":"bu-recognized-as-a-top-peace-corps-volunteer%e2%80%91producing-graduate-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2026\/04\/09\/bu-recognized-as-a-top-peace-corps-volunteer%e2%80%91producing-graduate-school\/","title":{"rendered":"BU Recognized as a Top Peace Corps Volunteer\u2011Producing Graduate School"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peace Corps at Pardee’s 2025 Career Night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boston University has been recognized by the Peace Corps as one of the nation\u2019s top volunteer\u2011producing graduate schools, ranking No. 5 in the agency\u2019s newly released 2026 Top Volunteer\u2011Producing Colleges and Universities list<\/a>. During the past fiscal year, eight BU graduate alumni served as Peace Corps volunteers, placing the University among a select group of institutions with a strong track record of preparing students for international service and community engagement.<\/p>\n

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This recognition reflects BU\u2019s longstanding commitment to public service and global engagement\u2014values closely aligned with the Peace Corps\u2019 mission as it marks its 65th anniversary. Peace Corps Acting Director Richard E. Swarttz has emphasized the vital role colleges and universities play in inspiring students to serve, noting that volunteers work alongside communities in more than 60 countries to address locally identified needs in education, health, economic development, and environmental sustainability. BU\u2019s continued presence among top volunteer\u2011producing schools underscores the impact of its graduates, particularly those from globally focused programs such as the Pardee School, in advancing peace, mutual understanding, and international cooperation.<\/p>\n

That commitment is reflected in alumni such as Stephanie Hince (BA IR \u201920) and Hallie Nothmann (BA IR \u201922), <\/span>who became some of the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service<\/a> following the agency\u2019s global evacuation during the COVID\u201119 pandemic. After earning degrees in international relations, Hince and Nothmann began serving as an environment volunteers in Panama.<\/p>\n

Since the Peace Corps\u2019 founding in 1961, more than 1,500 Boston University alumni have served as volunteers worldwide, including Carrie Hessler\u2011Radelet (CAS \u201979, Hon.\u201916), who later became the agency\u2019s 19th director after beginning her international development career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Western Samoa. In 2025 alone, 25 Terriers served as Peace Corps Volunteers and two as Peace Corps Response Volunteers, working across more than 20 countries and sectors ranging from health and education to community economic development and environmental protection. Through rigorous academic preparation, institutional partnerships such as the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program, and a deeply rooted culture of service, Boston University continues to prepare graduates to make meaningful contributions to communities around the world through Peace Corps service.<\/p>\n

Beyond it’s student population, David Scott Palmer<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Professor Emeritus of International Relations and Political Science and founder of the Latin American Studies Program at the <\/span>Pardee School, also\u00a0served in Peru in the first Peace Corps cadre in 1962.<\/span><\/p>\n

The University\u2019s connection to the Peace Corps is also evident within its staff community: Lauren Thams, Academic Affairs Administrator at Pardee and a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, continues to build on her service experience through the study of African languages, including Wolof, at BU\u2019s African Studies Center.<\/p>\n

Paul Webster Hare<\/a>, former British ambassador to Cuba and a master lecturer at the Pardee School of Global Studies, shared how inclusion of the Peace Corps in his teachings have highlighted key aspects of U.S. public diplomacy\u2013by volunteers and government engaging with oversees communities in locally-prioritized projects. Hare noted how serving benefits students of Pardee and beyond, “Serving in the Peace Corps can open many doors to different career options.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Interested Terriers should visit peacecorps.gov<\/a> to learn more about the Peace Corps and apply for service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston University has been recognized by the Peace Corps as one of the nation\u2019s top volunteer\u2011producing graduate schools, ranking No. 5 in the agency\u2019s newly released 2026 Top Volunteer\u2011Producing Colleges and Universities list. During the past fiscal year, eight BU graduate alumni served as Peace Corps volunteers, placing the University among a select group of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25562,"featured_media":63406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8414],"tags":[8469,9128,8676,13427,13444],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63405"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63405"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63412,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63405\/revisions\/63412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}