Graduate Profile: Brandon Miller
Brandon Edward Miller was the first in his family to go to college, and he used his foreign service major from Alma to gain admission to two of the best graduate schools in the country.
“The foreign service major helped me to become a well-rounded individual and to gain a global perspective, even while I was studying in rural Michigan,” the 1998 graduate says.
After graduating from Alma and winning the Barlow Trophy, the College’s highest award, Miller earned his master’s degree in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and his JD from Harvard Law School.
“The foreign service major allows you to tackle international relations classes while also taking full advantage of the liberal arts opportunities that makes Alma College such a great place to study,” he says.
Brandon Miller with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
“I not only took international law and national security policy classes, for example, but I also studied art history, Spanish and literature to fulfill the major's requirements.”
The Spanish minor is currently a law clerk for US District Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr. in Detroit. He has previously worked for Shearman and Sterling LLP, an international law firm, the State Department, the Peace Corps, Save the Children USA and the World Bank.
“The program offered me a great deal of flexibility,” he says. “My faculty advisor, Dr. Sandy Hulme, was an amazing resource and mentor, helping me to identify and obtain key internships that provided me with valuable professional opportunities.”
“The language and cross-cultural skills I obtained from the major helped me to hit the ground running as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia and, later, Madagascar after graduating.”
While at Alma, Miller was a leader of the Model UN Team, a member of Student Congress and the President’s Advisory Committee and was a founder of Alma PRIDE, the College’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered equal rights group.
