Career Opportunities

The knowledge of a foreign language a valuable resource in today's world. Coe foreign language graduates have gone on to language-related careers in government, museum work, international banking, teaching, advertising, radio and television, library work, and the diplomatic. Here are a few examples of what Coe foreign language graduates have been doing after graduation.

  • Tracey Peters (Spanish, minor in French) teaches Spanish at Orange Unified High School in California
  • Paul Venhuizen (French and Physics) is working toward a Ph. D. in French Literature at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
  • Raquel R. Brandhorst (Spanish and Business) is an Assistant Vice-President and Loan Officer at a bank. While at Coe, she did a business honors project related to the Hispanic community in West Liberty, Iowa.
  • Lisa Exey Hoppe (German, Literature, and English) is raising a family in Bonn, Germany, where whe works as an editor and translator for the Fulbright Commission.
  • Lorraine Martorelli (Spanish) earned a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University. Currently works at the University of Chicago's Center for International Studies as an Area Studies Coordinator.
  • Jill Thompson (French and Art) worked as the Registrar at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.
  • Amanda Moore (Spanish, English and Creative Writing) worked in the Social Work Training Division of Casa Central in Chicago, but is now the Website Managing Editor/English Instructor at Cranbrook Educational Community.
  • Trina Koppang worked for German-owned Canton Audio in Minneapolis and is now an Administrative Assistant at Group Madsen.
  • Tom Wagner (French), who taught French in the Omaha Public School System, is now a Dean of Students.
  • Jennifer Engelkemier, former curator of the German immigrant collections at the Museum of Amana History, is pursing a Master's in Linguistics at Payap University in Thailand.
  • Chiraz Boutiba (International Relations and Spanish) worked a member of the Gulf War Compensation Commission of the United Nations in Geneva Switzerland, and is now in the Office of Humanitarian Affairs.
  • Derek Daniel (German) lived in Berlin while completing on a graduate degree in Computer Science.
  • Mike Noonan (Spanish) is a Physical Therapist in Tucson, Arizona, an area with a large Hispanic population.
  • Paul Wilson (French and Business Administration) worked for the Merrill-Lynch Investment Company, and is currently an Employees Benefit Consultant at Acordia of Ohio, Inc.
  • Andrea Purvis (Spanish and English) worked with Hispanics in the area of social services. She is now a Migrant School Liaison for Kansas City Public Schools.
  • Grace Yabrudy (French and Business) served as a Staff Officer for the World Bank in Mali. She is currently a Country Manager for the World Bank.
  • Kathy VanRyzin (German) is assistant editor of German content for an art, music, theater online database.
  • Andrea Ziffer (German) won a Fulbright Award to teach in Germany.
  • Heidi Mittelstaedt (German) is teaching high school German in Dubuque, Iowa.
  • Katherine Macbride (classics) is in a doctoral program in Archeology at the University of New Mexico.
  • Christa Burdick (French and Psychology) recently completed a year teaching English in a French Lycée near Strasbourg plans to pursue her Ph.D. in Cross-Cultural Psychology.