Editing Chris Dodd (section)

==Early life, education, and early political career==
Dodd was born in [[Willimantic, Connecticut]]. His parents were Grace Mary Dodd (née Murphy) and U.S. Senator [[Thomas J. Dodd|Thomas Joseph Dodd]]; all eight of his great-grandparents were born in [[Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.wargs.com/political/dodd.html|title=The Ancestors of Chris Dodd|first=Robert|last=Battle}}</ref> He is the fifth of six children;<ref>[http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/exhibits/humanspirit/partone.html Biography of Thomas J. Dodd] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910040136/http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/exhibits/humanspirit/partone.html |date=September 10, 2006 }}</ref> his eldest brother, [[Thomas J. Dodd Jr.]], is a professor emeritus of the School of Foreign Service of [[Georgetown University]], and served as the U.S. ambassador to [[Uruguay]] and [[Costa Rica]] under President [[Bill Clinton]].

Dodd attended [[Georgetown Preparatory School]], a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] boys' school in [[Bethesda, Maryland]]. He graduated with a [[bachelor's degree]] in [[English literature]] from [[Providence College]] in 1966. He served as a [[Peace Corps]] volunteer in a small rural town called Moncion, in the [[Dominican Republic]] from 1966 to 1968. While there, he became fluent in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/1010583.html|publisher=Peace Corps Online|date=October 25, 2002|access-date=August 18, 2008|title=Florida Capital News: Dominican Republic RPCV Senator Chris Dodd campaigns in Florida to help Democrats with Hispanic vote}}</ref> (Later, while in Congress, his support for language study resulted in his being awarded the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Advocacy Award in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=The James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award |url=http://www.nectfl.org/awards-james-w-dodge-foreign-language-advocate-award |publisher=Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages |access-date=August 28, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821193635/http://www.nectfl.org/awards-james-w-dodge-foreign-language-advocate-award |archive-date=August 21, 2014 }}</ref>) Dodd was awarded his [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[University of Louisville]] in 1972. He also joined the [[United States Army Reserve]], serving until 1975.