Robert C. Wood Visiting Professorship Student Internship Award in Public and Urban Affairs
About the Wood Internship
The Robert C. Wood Visiting Professorship Committee at the John W. McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies launched the inaugural internship award associated with the Wood Visiting Professorship in 2024. This internship aims to have a UMass Boston student placed in an organization in the Greater Boston area to advance the legacy of Robert C. Wood with a focus on the public and urban affairs in Massachusetts.
Information about the 2026 application process will be made available at the end of February 2026.
A lifelong resident of Dorchester in UMass Boston’s Urban Planning and Community Development Master of Science program, William developed project and data management skills in manufacturing facilities and received a Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor of Science degree from Wentworth Institute of Technology. While serving on the Mayor’s Youth Council of Boston, he developed a love of public service, social justice and civic engagement. For the past several years, William has been involved in public transit advocacy with an interest in equity and accessibility, funding policy and mode shift.
Internship Host: A Better City
A junior at UMass Boston from Wakefield Massachusetts, Olivia majors in Labor Studies, is a student worker at the Labor Resource Center, and serves as the co-convenor of the UMass Boston Labor Club. She has spent time working in Boston Public Schools through the Strong Women, Strong Girls program on and off since 2018. Olivia gained public history experience as summer volunteer with the Lawrence History Center in 2023 and has studied the history of school desegregation in her coursework at UMass Boston.
Internship Host: Boston Desegregation and Busing Initiative