The McDowell Center is unique in having one of the most diverse and distinctive alumni groups within the College of Liberal Arts. Center alums have always had a strong identity studying and working alongside the Center’s faculty and associates from Col. James Wilmeth (RUSS), Charles McDowell (RUSS), Rima and Jack Palangian (RUSS), and Dennis Reinhartz (HIST), to Pete Smith (MODL), Mark Cichock (POLS), Lonny Harrison (RUSS), and Tatiana Baeva (RUSS). Our alums’ community and financial contributions have provided a substantial part of the setting and direction for our programs. Never just about academics, however, the Center’s alums have forged a sense of family. Today a former student – Ms. Beth Howell, ’02 - even serves on the Center’s Board of Advisors.

The Center has two types of alums. First, there are the numerous students who majored or minored in the Russian, political science, and history programs over the course of the last four decades. Many of these have gone on to careers with the federal government (including the State Department, the Commerce Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Department); have become teachers in high schools, colleges, and universities; have immersed themselves in the arts; or have established careers with major corporations like KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and Verizon. Their accomplishments are numerous and an indication of the energy and dynamism of COLA’s best and brightest.

Second, are the non-student, travel-abroad alums. Beginning in 1969 Charles McDowell began taking tour groups to the Soviet Union/Russia, China, Finland, Poland, Germany (East and West), Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic and Slovakia), Romania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand. These trips attracted participants from around the United States to go to places most programs only rarely visited. Mixing students, professionals, and retirees these trips made for a great mix and one-of-a-kind memories that remain a foundation of what the Center seeks to accomplish today.

We encourage you, our alums, not only to contribute financially to the Center to assist today’s programs, but also to let us know what you are doing creatively, what paths your careers have taken, or just to update your friends and classmates. Send us your photos, websites, blogs, and Facebook (Charles McDowellcenter) addresses so we may continue to connect and maintain the great traditions that have long been a part of the Center.