TU associate professor appointed to Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism

Rao recognized for commitment to community

By Cody Boteler on June 3, 2020

Aru Rao
Arundhati Rao, pictured here lecturing, was named to the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism in mid-May 

Arundhati Rao, an associate professor in the College of Business & Economics, was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism in mid-May.

The group reviews and approves all AmeriCorps state funding in Maryland and serves as ambassadors for volunteerism in local communities.

The Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism, founded in 1993, supports more than 800 AmeriCorps members each year through grant-making.

Rao—a certified fraud examiner—has been teaching in Towson University’s AACSB-accredited Department of Accounting for about 11 years.

In that time, she’s volunteered as an adviser for the and , an honor society at TU for accounting, finance and information systems students. She’s also served as a First-Year Experience Adviserat Towson University and is an active member of the American Accounting Association and has worked as ts.

“We shouldn’t have to be told to give back; we should just do it. That’s my philosophy, and I always tell my students that,” Rao says.

Her students have planned their own volunteer opportunities, including cleanup events and tutoring at high schools.

Rao has also volunteered with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps program, of which her son is a member, and LASOS in Harford County, where she lives. LASOS helps non-English speaking residents access essential services. In the past, some of Rao’s students have joined her to help those using LASOS services file their taxes.

“It’s a phenomenal experience, since students are working with real tax returns,” Rao says. “I rarely have an experience where a student says they didn’t enjoy volunteering and don’t want to do it again.”

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland and BTU-Partnerships, Work for Greater Baltimore and Culture of Philanthropy.