Holmes brings to the Board of Directors her experience in assisting asylum seekers with the American legal system
Refugee Services of Texas is proud to welcome Jennifer Holmes, Dean of the School of Economics at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), to the 2022 Board of Directors.
Prior to becoming Dean of the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, Holmes put in countless hours of research into the topic of refugees and asylum seekers.
“Jennifer has consistently demonstrated our core values of compassion and dignity towards the plight of refugees and asylum seekers,” said Russell Smith, LMSW, CEO of Refugee Services of Texas. “Her knowledge of how public policies affect refugees and her incredible humanitarian spirit will be invaluable to RST and will help us accomplish our mission to serve the world’s most vulnerable people.”
In addition to her role at UTD, Holmes is passionate about the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. In 2015, she co-authored a book about US Asylum Policy towards refugees with the University of Pennsylvania.
She is particularly knowledgeable about the sociopolitical issues that hinder or allow the flow of refugees in resettlement efforts, and how much help refugees need when they first arrive in the United States.
Holmes is one of seven new board members elected to serve two-year terms on the 18-member board. The new board members will join RST at a critical time as agencies across the U.S. scramble to resettle the unexpected influx of refugees from Afghanistan and others from across the globe.
She began her term in January 2022.
