Dagmar Möbius

Jeremiah Peterson is the coordinator for international alumni relations at TU Dresden. In an interview with “Kontakt-online,” he talked about his work and shared his biggest surprise when moving from the United States to Germany.

Since August 2022, Jeremiah Peterson has been working as the coordinator for international alumni relations in TU Dresden's Alumni Relations Office. “Our work promotes the international visibility of TU Dresden and is therefore crucial to a university's communications,” he says. “We tailor our activities to the university's needs. It is only as strong as the community of diverse personalities. The more stories we can tell from the history of our alumni and the more connections we can make with them - whether they come from Hoyerswerda or Hanoi - the stronger the presence of our university will be in their hometowns.”

Focus on Alumni Ambassadors

The international network of Alumni Ambassadors is the backbone of his work. These dedicated graduates, based all over the world, have agreed to foster TUD in their various countries. “My task is to restructure and expand this program while at the same time boosting its visibility. In the past, the Alumni Ambassadors primarily served as local contacts, for instance for exchange students. They still do that, but now they have additional roles as well. They support TUD at education fairs in their home countries, they promote TUD as a place to study, and they help organize alumni meetings abroad,” Jeremiah Peterson says. He started by setting up online meetings with the ambassadors to meet them in person and discuss ways in which they could support TUD.

Alumni weeks as a driving force

The first international alumni project week under his stewardship took place in 2023. Twenty Alumni Ambassadors from 19 countries participated in workshops to develop ideas on how to revamp the program. They came up with a variety of ideas, which were bundled into several project groups. “One of these tackled the challenge of how to make the ambassador program more visible within TUD itself,” Peterson reveals. The project group participants continued to work on their ideas throughout the year, summarizing them and finalizing them during the 2024 Alumni Week. “We now have a plan of action in our Alumni Relations Office which was devised by and along with our alumni, and which we will implement this year. This task is both gratifying and challenging,” says Peterson.

 A smorgasbord of tasks

Jeremiah Peterson's responsibilities are as wide-ranging as they are varied. He recruits international alumni as speakers for TUD events, he finds students who are interested in internships an equivalent place in the companies of international alumni, and he brings alumni in high-ranking positions – such as leading alumni at Fraunhofer USA – to meet with TUD representatives and discuss long-term partnerships.

His activities entail organizing meetings with TUD alumni at international venues at the request of TUD Rector Prof. Ursula Staudinger when she attends conferences, fostering international outreach. “Despite her tight schedule, it is essential to her to meet them and share ideas, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to network with each other,” Jeremiah Peterson explains. The third meeting within two years took place in the San Francisco Bay Area, involving more than 60 TUD alumni. A San Francisco Bay Alumni Chapter is currently being set up as a result.

Difference in alumni culture

Jeremiah Peterson has noticed a significant difference in the relationship between German and American students towards their universities: “Germans study for a few years, get their degree and that's it. The bond with the university is formed through the professors and the faculty. In the US, there is a completely different university and alumni culture. There is more of a team and community spirit, with huge sports teams, and a party of one kind or another every week. For students here in Dresden, meeting places are not tied as closely to the campus and events usually take place elsewhere. In the US, a large percentage of students live right on campus, so the atmosphere and environment are different all around the clock. I think it makes a fundamental difference in the relationship alumni have with their alma mater in later life. To be honest, here at TUD I see this “American-style” alumni relationship more among our older alumni groups, who often lived and worked closely together in seminar groups, than among our younger alumni, whose paths through university tend to be more individual.”

He has also experienced other surprises. Jeremiah Peterson is very impressed by “how hard German students work right from the first semester and how successful they are.” “I think that some American university students could profit from taking a little advice from their German counterparts here.” He has settled in Dresden and plans to stay for the long term. His mission is to network international alumni and to keep them in touch with their former university, fostering their loyalty.

Contact:
TU Dresden
Directorate 7, Unit 7.3 Marketing and Relationship Management
Alumni Relations Office

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