International Relations

Alumni Profiles

One of the most frequent questions we hear from prospective students and their parents is, "What can I do with a degree in International Relations?" The easy answer is, "Anything you want." Many alums go on to some of the best graduate and professional programs in the country. Others join the Peace Corps. Still others find interesting jobs right away, sometimes working overseas. The alumni profiled below illustrate the diverse paths our graduates follow once they leave William & Mary. Taken together, they show that a major in International Relations can help you achieve whatever goals you set for yourself.

Christopher Lukas Bellis

Graduated: 1990
Majors: Theater and International Relations
Graduate school: MFA in Directing from Catholic University
First job after W&M: Mixture of jobs in business management and theater-related fields
Current occupation: Director of Development at Hunter College, NYC

"My interest in international relations is based in my feelings about trying to help others in the world. This has translated into my desire to work in not-for-profit organizations. Given the differences in cultures and the economic disparity which exists, a greater understanding of the world community aids in understanding the needs of other people in other cultures."

Kathleen Blake

Graduated: 1988
Majors: International Relations with French minor
International activities during college: U.S. Department of State summer hire; IR Club
Graduate school: Johns Hopkins SAIS (Bologna and Washington)
First job after W&M: State Department, then Atlantic Council of the U.S.
Other international work since W&M: Head of student services at JHU Bologna Center; study visitor at Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France; work for global financial services firm both in Europe and the U.S.

"My W&M education in IR and in foreign language and culture provided a basis from which I continue to build. It is very true that the ability to think critically and to question what is around one is one of the best skills that W&M has given to me.... I also knew from the time I was a junior that I'd go on for some further education, because I just really felt that there was just so much more to learn about the world. I really have to credit the faculty with inspiring and encouraging that in their students. They really do drive us to do better and to explore beyond the boundaries with which we may have arrived on campus."

John Greenwood

Graduated: 1998
Major: International Relations with French minor
International activities during college: Reves Hall resident; junior year in Montpellier, France; Reves Center student assistant; International Conflict Resolution Club; International Studies newsletter; translator and technical assistant on student-run mission to Haiti; summer internships with Merrill Lynch and Law Offices
Graduate school: Masters in International Trade & Monetary Policy, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University
First job after W&M: Merrill Lynch, Junior Executive Training Program
Other international work since W&M: Head of European Strategy & Business Development at Merrill Lynch HSBC in London and Paris; Director of Business Partnering, U.S. India Business Council
Current occupation: Graduate student at Fletcher

"At W&M, International Relations is an interdisciplinary major. I was able to delve into such diverse topics as politics, economics, geography, history, and psychology. I remember fellow students questioning my plan of study, asking me how I expected to get a job after college. I left W&M having never taken a business class and never having looked at a balance sheet, financial statement, or business plan. Throughout my Merrill Lynch career, I'd have to say that my ability to speak a foreign language fluently and my ability to think and write analytically opened more doors than my ability to calculate a perpetuity or bond value. Within three years after graduating from W&M, I was working and living in London and Paris negotiating large strategic partnerships for Merrill Lynch.

"The friends I met at the Reves Center have contributed to my life in countless ways. I now have friends who are deputy secretaries at the State Department, lawyers for the U.S. Trade Representative, senatorial aids on Capitol Hill, aid workers in Afghanistan, venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, and financial analysts on Wall Street. Our international work experiences and our shared memories at W&M bind us together closely. I'm now studying International Monetary Policy and Capital Markets at the Fletcher School in Boston and guess what school is more represented than any other? Yes, W&M. Go Tribe!"

Sara Holtz

Graduated: 1994
Majors: International Relations and French
International activities during college: French House; junior year in Montpellier, France
Graduate school: University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health with an international concentration
Other international work since W&M: Research assistant for MEASURE Evaluation at the Carolina Population Center and in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe; research coordinator for HIV high transmission study in rural South Africa; short consultancies in various West African countries; University of Michigan Population Fellow at USAID/Dakar (Senegal) and USAID/West Africa Regional Program.
Current occupation: Doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Population and Family Health Sciences
Fond W&M memories: Spending the late afternoon at a sidewalk cafe on Montpellier's main square; cutting the Ramadan fast with Moroccan friends.

"My W&M education taught me how to cope in stressful situations and how to find a good balance between work and leisure."