September 2008

ALUMNI PROFILE

Meet This Year’s Alumni Achievement Award Winner

Jim McGovern, CAS/BA’81, SPA/MPA’84, majored in history as an undergraduate and still vividly recalls his first day at AU, more than 30 years ago. “I remember my very first class taught by Valerie French and Allan Lichtman called Historians and the Living Past,” remarks the U.S. Representative (D-MA). “A lot of the lessons I learned still remain with me today…I still have the textbook and reading materials."

First sworn in as U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ 3rd Congressional District in 1997 and now serving his sixth term, when McGovern was notified he had been selected as AU’s 2008 Alumni Achievement Award winner, he thought it was a mistake. There’s no mistaking his career of public service or dedication to human rights issues, however. “I am very honored that American University, a school that I loved attending and have great admiration for, would honor me.”

A self-proclaimed “average student,” McGovern thoroughly enjoyed his years at AU. “I can’t tell you that I performed exceptionally, but… I learned a lot that I still rely on when making decisions.”
The Worcester, Mass., native says he chose AU because he was interested in politics, government, and history – in addition to AU’s prime location. “I thought Washington, D.C. would be a good place to go to school. For me, it was a great fit.”

During his time at AU, McGovern was head of the Kennedy Political Union (KPU) and active in the College Democrats. Through these roles, he met several influential people including Senator Howard Baker, Jr. (R-TN), U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and NBA player and Rep. Mo Udall (D-AZ), to name a few. “To have the ability not only to read about these people, but to have them there on your campus, was a great highlight of my experience at AU,” he says.

One of McGovern's favorite AU memories was interning on the Hill with Senator George McGovern of South Dakota (no relation), whom he still describes as one of his best friends. He worked full time throughout graduate school as a senior aide for Rep. Joe Moakley (D-MA), taking advantage of those 8:10 p.m. class offerings.

While he has achieved much throughout his career, two of McGovern’s proudest accomplishments have involved human rights work. As a Congressional aid under Rep. Moakley, McGovern led an investigation into the 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests and two women in El Salvador. He and his team exposed the truth behind the murders and the El Salvadorian government’s attempts to cover it up. His efforts led the U.S. government to apply pressure on El Salvador to negotiate peace between the warring factions.

He has also worked tirelessly to end hunger. “Kids should be fed. You can’t learn if you’re hungry,” explains the cocreator of McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program. McGovern traveled to Columbia and Kenya to see the program’s affects around the world. “I’ve seen the benefits of this program and have seen up close and personal that it does work.”

Although many of his colleagues are in the thick of election season campaigning, Rep. McGovern has the good fortune to be running unopposed for re-election to a seventh term in Massachusetts’ third district. His response to a local op-ed writer summed his thoughts on the matter this way: “I have many duties and obligations, but finding an opponent is not one of them.”

-Heather Buckner

The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni who have distinguished themselves through their professional accomplishments. All 2008 alumni awards will be presented at the Port & Politics Reception during Alumni Weekend on Saturday, October 25. For more info, visit  http://alumni.american.edu/alumniweekend.

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