Peace Corps Commemorative
The Peace Corps program was established by Executive Order 10924, which was issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961. The program was legislatively authorized by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293). Between 1961 and 2013, over 215,000 Americans joined the Peace Corps. The National Peace Corps Association, a nonprofit organization for Peace Corps alumni, established the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to advocate for a commemorative to honor the mission of the Peace Corps and the values on which it was founded.
Peter Laugharn
In 1982, Laugharn joined the Peace Corps and served as a volunteer in Morocco until 1984. Later in 2011, after the death of Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, Laugharn wrote a tribute to Shriver describing the influence he had in Laugharn's life and choice of career. After the Peace Corps, he earned a master's degree in Arab studies from Georgetown University. He later earned his doctorate in education from the University of London.