vailsymposium

Dr. Josephine (Jody) Olsen, PhD, served as the 20th Director of the Peace Corps between March, 2018 – January, 2021. With the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Olsen made the unprecedented decision to evacuate all 7,000 Peace Corps Volunteers and bring them safely back to the United States. Olsen also championed global women’s economic empowerment, opened Peace Corps in a new country, Viet Nam, and re-opened three countries in which Peace Corps had previously served.

Olsen began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving as an education Volunteer in Tunisia from 1966-1968. She has also served the agency as Acting Director (2009), Deputy Director (2002-2009), Chief of Staff (1989-1992), Regional Director (1981-1984), and Country Director (1979-1981).

Prior to returning to the Peace Corps in 2018, Olsen was Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work and Director of the University’s Center for Global Education for eight years where she  developed and directed inter-professional global health projects for health graduate students, oversaw health research projects in ten different countries, and taught international graduate courses.

Currently, Olsen is Co-president Women of Peace Corps Legacy, Chair of the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation Park, Chair of the College of Education, University of Maryland, Board of Visitors, and a member of three other non-profit boards.

Olsen received a BS from the University of Utah, and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a PhD in Human Development from the College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park. Among her awards, in March, 2021, she received the University of Maryland President’s Award. She also has two honorary doctorates and was awarded a semester teaching fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School.