Jennifer Barnum ’94

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Jennifer Barnum is distinguished not only by her double major in development studies and communication studies but also by her participation in college honors. She has a flair for marrying her academic and theoretical pursuits with practical experience in government and development organizations around the world.

Barnum has worked as a teacher and community worker in the urban slums of Ecuador as part of the Partnership for Service Learning Program and as a medical assistant and researcher in Guatemala, where she helped develop educational programs for health promoters. She devised a plan for a legal resource center in the Czech Republic and directed a student volunteer teaching program in Los Angeles’ inner city. Her undergraduate research has focused on poverty, class, gender and social policy in the developing world.

In recognition of her scholarship and academic achievements, Barnum has received UCLA’s Distinguished Scholar Award, been chosen as a member of the USA Today All Academic Team and received the Honors Program’s Rosalin Alcott Scholarship for Academic Achievement. She has received the Alumni Scholar Achievement Award for achievement and service four years in a row and has been elected to Mortar Board Senior Honors Society.

Academic excellence notwithstanding, Barnum has involved herself in campus and community life. She was a member of the Kaleidoscope Theater, UCLA’s sexual health education program, and a founding member of Counterclockwise, a comedy program on local cable television. As student representative for development studies, Barnum served as liaison between students and faculty with a variety of responsibilities. She was chosen as one of the 15 students in the inaugural “class” of UCLA’s Ambassador Scholars.