RAGHU BOMMASAMUDRA, 25
BA '01, MPA '03
Budget Analyst, U.S. Marine Corps

On the circuitous path leading to Raghu Bommasamudra’s current position as budget analyst for the U.S. Marine Corps, the only constant has been change. He started his undergraduate career at LaGuardia Community College and later transferred to Baruch. At Baruch he started as a finance major but then switched to philosophy with a minor in business journalism. Bommasamudra believed that a business degree would be more practical, but he couldn’t deny his interest in ethics and his love of interdisciplinary study.

Those same eclectic interests led him back to Baruch’s School of Public Affairs for graduate work. “I saw the MPA as a jack-of-all-trades kind of degree,” he says, “one that could open many different kinds of doors.”

The first door it opened led straight to a job at the Pentagon. While still an MPA candidate, Bommasamudra went through the rigorous application process for a Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). Designed to attract outstanding graduate students who have a clear interest in and commitment to public service, the PMF program is extremely competitive. Bommasamudra became a finalist and was then offered a position with the Marine Corps.

Bommasamudra’s instinct to help others while broadening his own horizons is still alive and strong. His favorite rotation so far has been working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and when his two-year fellowship comes to a close this August, he hopes to join the Peace Corps.

—Pam Widener

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