Jeff Warner '06 Liberal Education Major

Upon graduating from Western Michigan University in December 2006 with a major in history and a minor in comparative religion, Jeff Warner joined the Peace Corps and served as an education volunteer in Kardjali, Bulgaria from April 2007 to July 2010. During his service he taught English at a local high school, helped his colleagues to develop and write grants through the European Union aimed at teacher training and development of the school’s physical infrastructure and organized after school activities for local school children. The knowledge he gained at WMU of the history and culture of the Balkans region provided a solid foundation for his work in Bulgaria.

After completing his Peace Corps service in 2010 he returned to Michigan and began a Master in Public Policy degree at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. His focus has been foreign policy, an area he developed a passion for at WMU while studying modern American history under Professor Ed Martini.

As part of his current studies he completed a three month summer internship at The Center for the Study of Democracy, a policy research organization in Sofia, Bulgaria. His work at the center focused on the intertwined issues of economic development and corruption.