Texas State To Welcome U.S. Peace Corps Director

SAN MARCOS – Jody Olsen, director of the Peace Corps, will visit Texas State University on Thursday, June 20, to speak about the Peace Corps’ role in America’s global engagement and participate in a Peace Corps recruiting event from 1-2 p.m. in LBJ Student Center room 5-7.1. 

Texas State has a been a preferred recruitment source for the Peace Corps, with several returned Peace Corps volunteers on faculty and staff.  Texas State also participates in the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program in partnership with the Peace Corps.

The program offers funding to returned Peace Corps volunteers pursuing a master’s degree in international studies.

Olsen was sworn into office as the 20th director of the Peace Corps in March 2018. Olsen began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer following her graduation from the University of Utah, serving in Tunisia from 1966-1968.

She has since served the agency in multiple leadership positions—as acting director in 2009; deputy director from 2002-2009; chief of staff from 1989-1992; regional director, North Africa, Near East, Asia, Pacific from 1981-1984; and country director in Togo from 1979-1981.

Olsen has also directed the Fulbright Senior Scholar Program and has been a professor of international social work at the University of Maryland. Throughout her career, Olsen has championed the expansion of service, learning and international opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds.

For more information, contact Joe Nava, Peace Corps public affairs specialist, at jnava@peacecorps.gov.