Eric Wilson
Global Goodwill Ambassador
Eric Michael Wilson ’98
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Our Ten Questions
- 1. What is your favorite flavor of Babcock ice cream?
Vanilla. - 2. What do you most miss about campus?
Eating a bratwurst and drinking a cold beer at the Terrace on the first day of spring. - 3. What is your favorite mode of transportation?
My favorite mode of transportation is the bike. In Madison and D.C. I used to bike everywhere. I really miss that. - 4. What items would you take to a desert island?
I would take my wife, Ledina, our dog, Nero, bratwurst, cheese curds and Spotted Cow. - 5. What was your first job?
I worked as a referee for intramural sports at the Natatorium. I ended up working there for all four years of college. - 6. Who is your hero?
My grandfather: he would be really proud of this award. - 7. What are you reading now?
I don't read many books but I read magazines: Harpers, Men's Journal, Economist, National Geographic and Vanity Fair. - 8. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
My parents always told me to try anything at least once. You could always change your mind and use it as a learning experience. That is what they told me before I left for Peace Corps Nepal. - 9. What's on your iPod?
Everything from Beethoven to Black Eyed Peas to French Hip-Hop. - 10. What is your proudest UW achievement?
By far receiving one of the Forward Under Forty Awards.
Profile
Eric Michael Wilson ’98
UW major: Zoology
Career: Peace Corps administrative officer
Eric Wilson has devoted nearly a decade to the Peace Corps, driven by a desire to help people around the world.
His latest assignment is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is leading the charge to develop a new program in a strategic country for U.S. foreign affairs. His first group of volunteers arrived in fall 2007 to provide HIV/AIDS relief in rural villages.
Wilson credits his undergraduate years at UW-Madison for teaching him about other cultures and sparking his curiosity about the world outside the United States, as well as instilling an ethic of responsibility to help others and the environment.
The Delafield, Wisconsin native had never been out of the country before signing on for his first Peace Corps Volunteer stint in Nepal in 1998. There, he created environmental awareness brochures for the national parks department and became fluent in Nepalese. Armed with a resolve to work in public service, he packed his bags for the Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he met and married Ledina Bushati, a native of Albania, who has worked for the U.S. Embassies in Lesotho and Ethiopia and is currently working with Wilson on AIDS relief efforts.
As one of the youngest Peace Corps Administrative Officers at age 29, Wilson was assigned to Lesotho, Africa, to turn around a struggling office, which in less than two years has become a model for the African Region.
“My parents never had passports until I lived in Nepal,” says Wilson, but they have since visited their son overseas and enjoy spreading the news of his good work throughout their Wisconsin community. A loyal Badger fan, he continues to follow UW sports and news over the Internet and proudly displays a UW decal on his car, wherever the roads may lead.
Eric's Essay
Growing up in Delafield, Wisconsin, I had always dreamed of attending the University of Wisconsin. When I received the acceptance letter, I knew I was about to embark on a life-changing experience, but never imagined it would lead me to a new desire to help people around the world.
UW immediately opened my eyes to a new diverse world. At the university I met my first non-white friends, my first gay/lesbian friends, and my first foreign friends. The UW experience taught me about other nations, foods, and cultures. Classes also taught me about African and world history, archaeology, and the sciences. My curiosity of another world outside of Wisconsin and the U.S. was sparked.
In Madison, I was introduced to Habitat for Humanity as well as other volunteer organizations. I felt a sense of pride in helping others and the environment. I knew I had something more to offer than just drinking beer on State Street so I decided to do an Alternative Spring Break through Habitat in Sumter, SC to help build homes.
Upon graduating from UW, I joined the Peace Corps and left for Nepal. I had never been out of the country before and here I was on a plane to Kathmandu. I served as Environmental Awareness Volunteer in the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and was responsible for creating awareness materials, updating the park brochures and tutoring children of the family I lived with. I even continued to watch UW events on videos sent from my parents.
My view on the world had expanded through Peace Corps and my UW experience. I knew I wanted to continue working in public service so I moved to Washington, D.C. to continue to work for an organization that embodied this view, the Peace Corps. I continued to volunteer my time to local causes. In my free time I attended many UW Alumni events and cheered on the Badgers.
In 2005, I was assigned to Lesotho, as one of the youngest Peace Corps Administrative Officers at the age of 29, to improve an office that was struggling in a challenging environment. In less than two years I completed this task, Lesotho was a model office for the Africa Region. I also helped implement the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program there.
In January 2007, Peace Corps reopened its office in Ethiopia and I feel proud to have been the first staff member selected for this assignment. We are expecting our first group of volunteers in October. They will be doing HIV/AIDS work in the rural villages of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a flagship program for Peace Corps and a strategic country in U.S. foreign affairs.
My wife (grew up in Albania) has worked at the Embassy in Lesotho and now in the PEPFAR Coordination Office in Ethiopia. We are a young couple that is proud to dedicate our time to different causes.
I feel that my UW experience has not only impacted me but impacted my family’s life as well. My parents and family had never owned a passport until I lived in Nepal. They have since visited me in the different countries I have lived or have ties to. Through them I have made an impact in their community as they share their trips and the work we are doing.
The University of Wisconsin experience is unique in that you can go anywhere in the world and find a proud Badger making a difference. I’ve always made sure to proudly display a UW alumni sticker on my car in every country that I have lived.
Thanks UW!