From the Marine Corps to World-Class Graduate Studies

Kevin Root
Master of International Public Policy ’19

Before applying to graduate school, Kevin served as a Marine officer in battalion command at Camp Pendleton, California, where he was selected for Top Level School (War College) and assigned to serve as the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS. 

The MIPP degree program has been an outstanding opportunity for Kevin both professionally and personally. In fact, there are several areas that best highlight his time at the school with the first being the diversity of thought provided by the student population, which has increased his understanding of topics in all of his classes. The world-class professors and practitioners have also provided Kevin excellent learning experiences and challenging assignments. He also appreciates that his instructors remained approachable throughout the semester. Furthermore, Kevin has enjoyed the multiple speaker series, staff rides, and happy hours, which have rounded out his educational experience introducing him to new topics and great colleagues, deepening the friendships that he has made in his short time at the school. 

As Kevin gets closer to graduation, he will leave the school with a greater depth of knowledge and a network of friends and professionals to lean on for support in the future. He plans to apply what he has learned in future billets both in the Marine Corps and the Department of Defense and will use the network of the school’s experts and up-and-coming professionals to address complex challenges.