Lives of Consequence
Charles W. Jewett '66
Peace Corps Volunteer
Having parents who modeled a life devoted to civic engagement and giving back to the community, Charles W. Jewett joined the Peace Corps following his graduation from Hobart in 1966. A volunteer in a small coffee-producing town in southwestern Ethiopia named Aggaro, he taught English, geography, math and world history to grades seven and eight, and English to grade three. In his third year of service, he transferred to the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, where he taught in a private school.
After completing an MA in African Studies in 1972, Jewett returned to Washington D.C., where after working with applicants for agriculture and education programs, he was named senior placement officer for the Peace Corps. His duties included overseeing, selecting and assigning trainees to overseas programs. Six years later, Jewett took a position as a recruitment specialist at the Peace Corps. In this position, he and a colleague designed, edited and published a semi-annual skill-by-skill inventory of "available skills" for overseas Peace Corps programs.
Jewett expanded upon his extensive work with the Peace Corps in 1995 when he became country desk officer. In this role he directed the headquarters and overseas communications for programs in South and East Africa. He also coordinated recruitment, selection and delivery of new volunteers in all sectors for various African countries. Jewett held this position until 1998.
Following 32 years of service to the Peace Corps, Jewett worked as an analyst for the IRS, where he directed the development of several performance criteria and educational materials for assessing staff performance. He also served as a "Year 2000" team member on the IRS task force where he assisted in IT emergency preparation.
Revisiting his passion for teaching, Jewett capped off his career working as an adjunct instructor at the University of Nevada from 2002-2004 where he taught English as a Second Language to international students from Korea, Japan, Eastern Europe and Mexico.
In September 2012, Jewett and nearly 100 returned Peace Corps volunteers traveled to Ethiopia for a two-week celebration marking the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps in Ethiopia.
Using his African experience, training sessions and study, for 14 years he gave docent tours at the Smithsonian's Museum of African Art. Active in the gay community and in the fight for equality, Jewett has continued to make civic engagement a cornerstone of his life. School activities, kids' soccer teams, and a local adoption agency also attracted his energies.
While a student at HWS, Jewett was a writer for The Herald and was active in his fraternity leadership before graduating with a B.A. in English.