Faculty Profile for Dr. Helen Lowman

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Helen Lowman is a Lecturer and the Director of the Center for Research, Public Policy, and Training at Texas State University. Additionally, she is Senior Advisor to the Associate Director of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection at the Peace Corps. Before her return to the Peace Corps in 2022, she was President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. In this role for approximately five years, she ran the nonprofit, with more than 3 million volunteers and 650 affiliate organizations, that envisions every community to be a clean, green, and beautiful place to live.
Dr. Lowman is an innovative and experienced leader in international development and global recruitment. In July 2010, Dr. Lowman was appointed by President Obama to serve as Regional Director for the Europe, Mediterranean, and Asia region where she oversaw Peace Corps programs in 21 countries. During her tenure, Dr. Lowman chaired the working group that initiated and implemented the placement of same-sex couples as Peace Corps volunteers. She also led a significant shift in the region’s footprint, including the graduation and strategic phase-out of four posts, and the assessment, establishment, and launch of three additional posts.
In 2014, Dr. Lowman became Associate Director of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection, overseeing the largest department in the Peace Corps, with staff in eight US-based recruiting offices and Peace Corps Headquarters who were tasked with recruiting, assessing, and placing between 3,000 and 5,000 volunteers in more than 60 countries annually. Within her first year in the role, Dr. Lowman led the agency’s reforms to streamline the Peace Corps application and the recruitment and placement process. Under her leadership, the Peace Corps surpassed previous records in number of applications, including a five percent increase in applicants who identify as racially or ethnically diverse.
Dr. Lowman was then appointed by President Obama as Director of the Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the US Department of Homeland Security, in October 2015. In her role as Director of ICPD, she oversaw programs that partner at all levels of government, the private sector, and community organizations to increase citizen and community preparedness and encourage the development of disaster resilience across the United States.
During her career, Dr. Lowman has served as Country Director and Associate Director of the Peace Corps program in China, acting Country Director in Mongolia, and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. She has also held senior leadership positions at AFS Intercultural Programs/USA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Dr. Lowman completed her undergraduate studies at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies and Spanish. She obtained a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, and both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University.