EAST LANSING, Mich. – The number of Michigan State University alumni who have served in the Peace Corps recently topped 2,000, a level of participation reached by only four other universities and a milestone in MSU’s 44-year relationship with the agency designed to promote mutual understanding between Americans and the developing world.

“MSU is proud of its long relationship with the Peace Corps and of the enthusiasm of its graduates for this sort of international involvement,” said MSU Provost Kim Wilcox. “Our 2,000 alumni who have served as Peace Corps volunteers are tangible evidence of MSU’s commitment to advancing knowledge and transforming lives on an international scale.”

President John F. Kennedy established the agency as part of the U.S. Department of State in March 1961. MSU graduates were among the initial cohort of volunteers sent to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. That same year, the MSU campus was a training site for Peace Corps volunteers heading to Nigeria.

Except for a brief hiatus, MSU has hosted a Peace Corps recruiting office since 1978. Currently, the office is staffed by two MSU graduate students and Peace Corps veterans – Lisa Robinson, who served in Poland from 1998 to 2000; and Lexine Hansen, who served in Morocco from 1997 to 1999.

“MSU graduates students in a very broad range of academic programs, many of which match the needs of developing countries,” said Jeffrey Riedinger, MSU acting dean of International Studies and Programs, of the strong MSU-Peace Corps connection. “And MSU’s land-grant tradition seems to foster an inclination toward public service in many of its alumni.”

For more information on Peace Corps activities at MSU, visit: www.isp.msu.edu/peacecorps