International Studies Program faculty

Peter G. Martin is Special Assistant to BC President Fr. William P. Leahy, S.J. for whom he works to implement a variety of strategic initiatives. He is also chairman of the steering committee of BC’s Church in the 21st Century Center.  Before coming to Boston College, Mr. Martin served as a U.S. diplomat for more than twenty years in Washington and abroad, including for seven years at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. Among other assignments, he was a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw and was liaison to United Nations peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. Domestically, he was also a Pearson Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senior Advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State, and Chief of Staff to the Senior Advisor to then Secretary of State John F. Kerry.  

In BC's International Studies Program, Mr. Martin teaches "21st Century Vatican Diplomacy," a course that analyses the Holy See’s engagement in foreign affairs and explores the workings of diplomacy generally.  

Mr. Martin received a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and holds master’s degrees from Emory University (History) and the United States Naval War College (National Security and Strategic Studies). He is the recipient of various awards and commendations from the U.S. Department of State. Pope Benedict XVI recognized his contributions to U.S.-Holy See relations by naming him a Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great. Before joining the U.S. Foreign Service, Mr. Martin taught history and coached varsity tennis and hockey at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. He lives in West Roxbury with his wife and three children.