U.S. Peace Corps

Celebrating 50 Years of U.S. Peace Corps Service!

Since the formation of U.S. Peace Corps in 1961 by an Executive Order from President John F. Kennedy, nearly 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries around the world. In 2010, 8,655 trainees and volunteers are serving in 77 countries.

To learn more about the history of Peace Corps, visit the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and listen to his speech at the University of Michigan in a campaign stop on October 14, 1960 and read his March 1, 1961 Executive Order that established the agency.

The University of Arizona is consistently a top 25 producer of Peace Corps Volunteers, with approximately 76 UA alumni currently serving and a total of 1,408 alumni who have served since Peace Corps started in 1961. The State of Arizona ranks as the No. 18 producer of Peace Corps volunteers of all time. Since 1961, 3,145 Arizonans have volunteered. Approximately 800+ Returned Peace Corps Volunteers reside in southern Arizona.