Brennan Tucker '21

Brennan Tucker graduated in December 2021 and has begun working as a contractor employed by CAMRIS International Inc.. Her assignment has placed her in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where she works in the Bureau for Global Health in the Office of the Assistant Administrator. Tucker also says The Patterson School prepared her well for her job  - “Patterson gave me a very diverse set of skills that I think are applicable in many different work settings, including at USAID. As a Security/Intelligence Major and Development Minor, I was able to work on my analytical skills in my intelligence classes, as well as gain knowledge of security and development in my other courses. I think that the diversity of my courses at Patterson definitely gave me a broad pool of knowledge and resources to draw from which has benefited me.” Tucker was first introduced to USAID during her summer internship at the U.S. Embassy in Benin during her time in undergrad. While she interned for the State Department she was able to interact with colleagues at USAID who spoke with her about development work. During her time at Patterson, Ms. Tucker interned at USAID in the Office of West African Affairs where was able to work on health-focused projects and became interested in working for the Global Health Bureau. Brennan Tucker was the recipient of the 2021 Stempel Award based on her performance in the comprehensive exams. She says: “I am very honored to receive the Stempel Award this year. I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Dr. John Stempel himself at Patterson this year [2021] and hear about his work in the Foreign Service, which made receiving the award that much more meaningful after hearing Dr. Stempel's stories. I am so thankful that I was in a cohort of such great classmates who challenged me in and out of the classroom every day. It was an honor to be selected for the award among such incredible peers.” Brennan’s long-term goal is to one day become a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). She has a very strong interest in working in West Africa, and in a perfect world, would love to work as an FSO in that region.