Dominican Republic

  by Jeremiah Norris (Colombia 1963-65)     Joseph M. Acaba spent two years in the Peace Corps serving in the Dominican Republic, 1994-96. Ten years later, in May of 2004, he became the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate when he was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Training Group 19. He completed his training on February 10, 2006, and was assigned to STS-119, which flew from March 15 to 28, 2009, to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. In 1990, Joseph had received his bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of California/Santa Barbara, and in 1992 he earned his master’s degree in geology from the University of Arizona.  He then went on to earn an M.Ed. in 2015 from Texas Tech University. In between these higher educational endeavors, he somehow managed to . . .

  Joe Kennedy III is set to be named as US special envoy to Northern Ireland, BBC News understands. He will be will be the first person in the role in almost two years. The US government will make the announcement as early as Monday, a source familiar with the appointment told the BBC. It is understood the role will see Mr Kennedy, who is the grandson of assassinated presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, focus on economic development and closer ties, and not political issues such as Brexit or the Northern Ireland Protocol. Before attending Harvard Law School, Kennedy served in the Peace Corps (Dominican Republic 2004-06). He then became a district attorney before setting his eyes on the US House of Representatives. He was first elected to congress in 2013 and served four terms as the representative for Massachusetts’s 4th district. In 2020, Kennedy decided to forego a re-election, and . . .