2021-2022 KU International Affairs Annual Report

Table

ACHIEVEMENT

FULBRIGHT AWARD WINNERS

STUDENT SUCCESS

ALUMNI REFLECTIONS

FACULTY AND STAFF

KUIA GIVING

1450

Boulevard Lawrence, Kansas

Phone: 785-864-6161 Email: intlaffairs@ku.edu Website: international.ku.edu

66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY.

As we begin a new academic year, I am delighted to share our highlights and accomplishments from the past year. Reflecting, it is amazing to see how much was accomplished over such a short period of time. Most notably, KU completed its two-year participation in the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Lab. It was out of that work and through the involvement of hundreds of faculty and staff members, as well as students, that we:

■ Established the new Institute for International and Global Engagement, headed by Melissa Birch, associate professor in the School of Business.

■ Created a new Provost Fellow for Internationalization, which has been filled by Megan Greene, professor of history.

■ Integrated comprehensive internationalization as a foundational element to KU’s strategic planning efforts under Jayhawks Rising.

■ Bolstered the foundation for internationalization at KU by providing a strong base budget for International Affairs and establishing the role of senior internationalization officer, which I took on this summer.

Overall, these exciting developments set us up for an extraordinary year ahead, and they remind us of the remarkable breadth and depth of KU’s international work, the passion and expertise of our community, and of our many accomplishments on the world stage. In the pages that follow, you will learn about faculty members who are transforming their disciplines and society through their work. You will read of our exceptional students and the impact they have here and across the world. You will see a staff succeeding in its efforts to bring the world to KU and KU to the world. And you will gain a sense of a university community that is not only committed to the world around it, but actively transforming itself to enhance our capacities and reach.

I am immeasurably proud of the work we have done over the past year as an internationally engaged public research university. As we look ahead, I know that we are supported by a leadership team at this university that understands how integral internationalization is to everything we do. International isn’t simply the content of our work at KU, but the way in which we conduct our work and the nature of the society that we hope benefits from our efforts. We have a healthy vision for how to move forward as a university, and I am delighted to report that others find that vision compelling as well.

Entering into the 2022-2023 academic year, we are seeing growth in new international enrollments at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Just as exciting, we are returning to pre-pandemic levels of education abroad participation. Faculty members have returned from across the globe, having spent the summer rekindling international partnerships and establishing new ones. Finally, the U.S. Department of Education has reauthorized all four KU national resource centers for another four years, awarding over $8 million in federal funds to support curriculum development and delivery, faculty research, and student scholarships in languages and area studies. It has been ten years since KU has seen such extraordinary success in the national Title VI competition. The designation speaks to the strength of our area studies directors, what the centers have been able to accomplish through their work, and the compelling nature of their plans going forward.

As we continue our efforts in the coming year, I know that it has only been made possible through the hard work and successes of the past year and the tireless efforts of so many people. Enjoy our annual report and, as always, I encourage you to connect with us as partners to your efforts and as advocates of your important work.

Charles A.S. Bankart KU Senior Internationalization Officer

ACE Internationalization Lab

KU has adopted comprehensive internationalization as one of its five core foundations to inform the multi-year strategic planning process Jayhawks Rising. The adoption signals that KU leaders recognize that to be successful, KU must be connected to and of the world.

“This requires moving beyond internationalization as a set of discrete services,” said Charles Bankart, KU senior internationalization officer. “Pervasive internationalization profoundly informs the nature of our actions, how KU articulates and understands its identity, and enables unique outcomes in the areas of student success, research and building healthy communities.”

The importance of internationalization in KU’s strategic plan is the direct result of KU's participation for the

past two years in the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Lab.

In fall 2020 KU was one of 10 colleges and universities selected to participate in the ACE’s 18th cohort. Since then, more than 50 faculty, staff and students participated in subcommittees, identifying areas of strength and drafting recommendations for improvement. Those recommendations informed the Jayhawk Rising strategic plan.

This spring the ACE Peer Review Team visited campus. The delegation met with Chancellor Douglas Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer, as well as other campus administrators, deans, faculty, students, staff and Internationalization Lab participants. The delegation's reflections and recommendations from the visit were incorporated into a final report.

Fall 2020

- Identify co-chairs and steering committee members

- Establish subcommittees

- Develop charges

- Site visit from ACE advisor

Spring & Summer 2021

- Institutional self-assessment

- Data collection & analysis - Survey stakeholders - Benchmark against peer institutions

Fall 2021

- Develop action plan

Self-study reports

- Integrate with KU’s strategic plan Jayhawks Rising

Spring 2022

- Produce action plan document

- Site visit from ACE Peer Review Team

- Community meeting - Finalize action plan

Members of the ACE Lab Peer Review Team meet with KU leadership during the team's spring visit. Pictured are Jennifer Roberts, vice provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies; Megan Greene, professor of history and former director of the Global Scholars program; David Di Maria, senior international officer and associate vice provost for International Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Ariel Armony, vice provost for Global Affairs and director of the University Center for International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh; Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer; Cheryl Matherly, ACE adviser and vice president and vice provost of International Affairs at Lehigh University; Charles Bankart, senior internationalization officer; Susan Klusmeier, vice provost for Academic Success; and Meredith McQuaid, associate vice president and dean of International Programs at the University of Minnesota.

ACE MODEL FOR COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION

ACE defines comprehensive internationalization as a strategic, coordinated process that seeks to align and integrate policies, programs and initiatives to position colleges and universities as more globally oriented and internationally connected.

INTERNATIONAL STRENGTHS

countries represented on campus by students, faculty and staff

Alumni network spans the globe

13th

In the nation in language and area studies expertise

24th

Among U.S. public research doctoral institutions in percentage of students who studied abroad

4

Title VI-funded national resource centers

Students have received Fulbright awards since 1946

ACE LAB RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

KU has significant internationalization resources and is unmatched across the region in its level of international activity. These resources and activity have proven critical to KU’s teaching and research efforts.

However, the ACE lab underscored that KU’s international efforts and resources need more strategic coordination, alignment and incentivization. KU must amplify and strategically build upon the work it is already doing, while creating more inclusive structures, support and recognition for the international activity that is currently occurring.

Through Jayhawks Rising, KU will:

■ Enhance alignment of resources with strategic partnership and programming priorities.

■ Improve tracking and reporting of international activity and accomplishments.

■ Increase recognition and rewards for international activity and associated outcomes.

Organizational changes are needed to enhance access, alignment and impact, as well as to affirm and clearly articulate KU’s identity as a major international research university.

UNIT PARTICIPATION

Moving forward KU International Affairs will partner with academic and administrative leaders to develop unit-level internationalization plans that are reflective of Jayhawks Rising’s overarching priorities of student success, healthy and vibrant communities, and research and discovery.

BENCHMARKING

- Staff and faculty members who have taken professional development training on intercultural competency.

- Undergraduate and graduate students who have studied abroad (broken down by demographics and field of study).

- Faculty participation in international conferences.

- Grants tied to international work or collaborators abroad.

- Publications with co-authors from outside the United States.

- Support of professional development and career placement opportunities with organizations that have an international footprint.

- Support of professional development and career placement for international students.

- Endowment support for international activity.

METRICS

Establish metrics that capture faculty, student and staff activity related to KU’s internationalization goals of:

- Developing strategic partnerships.

- Providing degree-relevant undergraduate and graduate programs that send students abroad to study, research, conduct service-learning projects and intern.

- Developing intercultural cultural competency skills among staff, faculty and students, ensuring they can communicate and work well with people from different cultural backgrounds.

- Diversifying KU’s international student population.

- Incorporating international, intercultural and global dimensions into KU’s course curriculum.

- Engaging faculty in international research.

- Encouraging transnational research that includes non-American authors and topics.

- Offering international performances and exhibits.

GOAL SETTING

Using the most relevant benchmarking data and metrics, units across campus will set internationalization goals and establish a timeline for achieving those goals. The unit-level goals will be incorporated into the goal setting and performance expectations of individual staff and faculty.

Read more about the ACE Lab findings and recommendations: international.ku.edu/aceinternationalization-lab

KU Announces Appointments to Support International Engagement

TheKU Institute for International and Global Engagement (KU-IIGE) was launched in February to enhance KU’s international scholarship and global engagement efforts. Melissa Birch, associate professor in the School of Business, will lead the institute as the inaugural executive director.

In this role, Birch will report to Jennifer Roberts, vice provost for graduate studies and academic affairs.

“Dr. Birch brings extensive experience in international engagement through her research, teaching and community associations through the School of Business,” Roberts said. “She served previously as the inaugural director of KU’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and president of the Association of International Business Education and Research (AIBER), the association of all CIBERs.”

Birch, who started her career at KU in 1997, was the recipient of the 2002 Provost’s Award for Leadership in International Education. Her research focuses on the challenges of management in Latin America, and she has published on topics including public sector management, privatization and regional integration. She was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve as a member of the Mid-America District Export Council. She also serves as chair of the Kansas International Trade Coordinating Council, an advisory group to the governor on the selection of the Kansas Exporter of the Year.

Birch managed the business school’s study abroad and international outreach activities while also teaching courses on international business and business in Latin America. Birch is a member of the faculty of the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies and served as interim associate director in 2011.

As the executive director for KU-IIGE, Birch is responsible for creating and implementing a vision to direct the institute’s future in support of the university’s international and global engagement goals. Birch said she understands the magnitude of her new position, which continues the charge from former Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences George Waggoner (1954 to 1975) for KU to be a hub for international education in America’s heartland.

“This institute represents an opportunity to build a 21st century structure for international studies at KU on a foundation that has been at least 60 years in the making,” Birch said. “Generations of KU scholars have left an impressive legacy of interdisciplinary international education, scholarship, and partnership in response to that challenge. Taking that legacy forward into the digital age brings formidable challenges and exceptional opportunities.”

UPDATES ON INTERNATIONALIZATION

In other efforts to strengthen international and global engagement, Megan Greene has been appointed as provost fellow focused on internationalization. She will implement recommendations from the ACE Internationalization Lab that involve faculty engagement

in teaching and research, including development of policy and practice to facilitate and incentivize internationalization of teaching and research, and development of mechanisms to collect data on international research and teaching activities and curricular internationalization efforts. Her efforts will align with and complement external engagement activities carried out by the KU-IIGE. She will report to Roberts.

Greene is a professor of history with a research focus on 20th century China and Taiwan and teaches courses on modern China and East Asia.

Additionally, Charles Bankart, who has served for five years as the associate vice provost for international affairs, has a new title and now serves as senior internationalization officer. Bankart will partner with academic and administrative leadership, as well as the new institute and provost fellow, on fully integrating internationalization into KU’s strategic planning efforts under Jayhawks Rising. This move is in recognition of his role in leading internationalization efforts at KU, in addition to his current responsibilities in the Provost’s Office.

EXPANDING KU'S REACH

The work of KU-IIGE will align efforts of KU’s five area studies centers: the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies; the Kansas African Studies Center; the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies; the East Asian Studies Center and the Center for Global & International Studies.

The KU-IIGE will align KU’s capacities and activities in four core areas (curriculum, research, international operations and engagement) to create collaboration and partnerships on campus, across the state and around the globe.

“I’m truly excited to see the teamwork between Charles, Melissa, Megan, our area center directors and our faculty, staff and students who engage in international activities,” Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer said. “I’m very confident these efforts will result in KU’s academic programs, research and creative activities having increasingly broad impact on a global scale.”

The KU-IIGE’s mission and efforts led by Bankart and Greene align with institutional priorities and objectives within KU’s Jayhawks Rising Strategic Plan, specifically the objective to “Strengthen Service to Local and Global Communities” under the “Healthy and Vibrant Communities” priority and the objective to “Expand the Impact of KU Research in Kansas and Beyond” under the “Research and Discovery” priority.

■ Evan Riggs

Megan Greene, provost fellow focused on internationalization.

Woodyard Award Winner

KAPILA D. SILVA

Kapila D. Silva, professor of architecture, received the 2021 George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award.

The award selection committee was impressed with Silva’s creation of an Asian-focused study abroad program, the introduction of courses that included non-Western perspectives and his mentorship of international students and those doing research with an international context. The committee also highlighted Silva’s research and collaboration with colleagues from around the world, development of international partnerships, engagement with KU International Affairs and the area studies centers, and his co-directorship of the Multicultural Architecture Scholars Program.

“The committee recognized Silva for his sustained and consistent commitment to international education, research, service and internationalization of the curriculum in the School of Architecture & Design,” said Brent Metz, selection committee chair and professor of anthropology. “The number of study abroad programs he has run in several different countries, the 250-plus students he has led abroad and the number of institutional collaborations he has established are extraordinary. His commitment to international education is transformative to the discipline.”

Silva’s “study abroad program, studios and courses have not only internationalized our curriculum, but they have also brought in much-needed non-Western perspectives to decolonize and expand our predominantly Eurocentric curriculum.”

- Hui Cai Architecture Department Chair

Photo: Christine Metz Howard

Photo: Kapila Silva, professor of architecture, stands second from left with Charles Bankart, senior internationalization officer, Eleanor Woodyard, and Brent Metz, selection committee chair and professor of anthropology.

Silva, who is also the associate dean for diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging in the architecture & design school, came to KU in 2007 as a visiting faculty member. In 2008 he received a full-time, tenure-track position.

That same year, Silva collaborated with colleague Jae Chang to create the school’s first Asia-focused study abroad program, which has taken more than 250 students to China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The program explores historic and contemporary architecture and urbanism in these countries. During the program, Silva works with local universities, professionals, and architecture and construction firms, strengthening connections between KU and its international partners.

At KU Silva has integrated cultural and historical global perspectives into new courses and programs. For example, one of his courses explores how culture, history and physical location determine how ordinary people create the built environment. Another course on historic preservation theory adds international perspective by discussing the global preservation theories and practices developed by UNESCO for the World Heritage Program.

In the nomination letter, Hui Cai, chair of the architecture department, wrote that Silva’s “study abroad program, studios and courses have not only internationalized our curriculum, but they have also brought in much-needed non-Western perspectives to decolonize and expand our predominantly Eurocentric curriculum.”

Additionally, Silva is a committed mentor to undergraduate and graduate students, working closely with domestic students to engage with architecture and design in an international context and supporting international students as they navigate KU.

Silva’s research also has an international reach, focusing on global heritage conservation and addressing theoretical and pragmatic issues related to UNESCO’s World Heritage Program, specifically in the non-Western and Asia-Pacific region. Collaborating with a network of scholars

and contributors from around the world, Silva is the lead editor of a number of publications: The Routledge Handbook on Cultural Landscape Heritage in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge: 2022), The Routledge Handbook on Historic Urban Landscapes in the Asia-Pacific (Routledge, 2020), Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management (Routledge, 2017) and Asian Heritage Management: Contexts, Concerns, and Prospects (Routledge: 2013). He is the co-author of "The Tämpitavihāras of Sri Lanka: Elevated Image-houses in Buddhist Architecture" (Anthem Press: 2021).

The Woodyard Award also recognizes Silva’s engagement with internationalization efforts at KU, including his involvement with the University Senate’s International Affairs Committee, International Affairs Council and the American Council on Education’s Internationalization Lab initiative at KU. He has also served on review committees for the Foreign Languages and Studies (FLAS) Travel Awards, Graduate Direct Exchange Program and International Humanities Summer Travel Grants. He gives guest lectures in different academic disciplines throughout the university and is an affiliated faculty member of KU’s Center for Global & International Studies, Center for East Asian Studies, Kansas African Studies Center and Museum Studies Program.

“Silva’s unanimous selection among a strong field of candidates acknowledges his substantial and lasting impact on international education at KU,” Metz said.

The late George Woodyard, the first dean of international studies, and his wife, Eleanor, endowed the award, which KU International Affairs coordinates. The award recognizes faculty on the Lawrence campus who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in strengthening KU’s international reach in such areas as curriculum development, study abroad programs, relationship with international partner institutions and collaboration with international colleagues in significant research and publications. The award includes a $1,000 stipend.

■ Christine Metz Howard

The KU-UCR Exchange Support Fund

The KU-UCR Exchange Support Fund, administered by KU International Affairs, prioritizes support for faculty exchange development between KU and the University of Costa Rica. The fund can also be used to support KU faculty research in Costa Rica or elsewhere in Latin America.

COSTA RICA

STEPHANIE ZELNICK, professor of clarinet, received funding to travel to Costa Rica to teach and perform at the University of Costa Rica, the National Institute of Music in Costa Rica and at the International Clarinet Festival of Costa Rica.

ECUADOR

DANIEL VELASCO, assistant professor of flute, received funding to travel to Ecuador to perform a solo recital with piano accompaniment, teach a masterclass and perform as a member of the flute ensemble at the closing concert at the International Flute Festival in the Middle of the World.

PARAGUAY

MICHAEL KRUEGER, professor of visual art, received funding to travel to Paraguay for a solo exhibition of his artworks at Fuga Villa Morra. He will also offer a workshop for the community and give a public lecture on his art and research

Pre-Dissertation Travel Grants

This fund supports six- to eight-week trips for graduate students’ preliminary dissertation field activities taking place in Latin America or Africa.

MEXICO

RAFAEL GONZALEZ, graduate student in geography, received funding to travel to Mexico to develop relationships within the Rarámuri community in preparation for future dissertation research on place attachment for homeland and urban settlements and how it is perceived by the Rarámuri who live in the city, especially from a generational, gender and queer perspective.

KUIA Awards 14 Grants

KU International Affairs awarded grants to 13 KU faculty members support research and collaboration the funds before June 30, 2023.

International Travel Fund for Humanities Research

This fund supports KU faculty pursuing international humanities research abroad. The funds are intended for summer research projects and provide funding for airfare and related travel expenses.

MEXICO

RAFAEL ACOSTA, associate professor of Spanish, received funding to travel to Mexico for the design and implementation of a database for quantifying and understanding literary prestige and consumption in contemporary Mexico and its diaspora.

ARGENTINA

VERÓNICA GARIBOTTO, professor of Spanish, received funding to travel to Argentina to research psychoanalysis and intersectionality that will result in a book publication and the development of a new first-year seminar.

FRANCE

PAUL SCOTT, associate professor of French, received funding to travel to Paris for archival and library research, which will form the basis of a booklength project on fashion and moralists in early modern France.

SPAIN

MECHELE LEON, professor of theatre and dance, received funding to travel to Spain to visit Jewish heritage sites with the goal of creating public performances and written scholarship on the themes of absence, nostalgia, tourism and the affective power of family history research.

South, Southeast and East Asia Fund

The fund develops, strengthens and maintains institutional exchanges and academic collaborations between KU and counterparts at selected postsecondary institutions within Asia.

SOUTH KOREA

EUNGSIK KIM, assistant professor of economics, received funding to travel to South Korea to perform a welfare analysis of public pension and fiscal policies across East Asian countries and to research behavioral mistakes and irrational choices of households and its implications on macroeconomic outcomes and governmental policies.

MAYA STILLER, associate professor of Korean art and visual culture, received funding to travel to South Korea for field research of monk portraits and primary sources located in the museums of Buddhist temples, which is essential to the completion of her book manuscript.

PHILIPPINES

RAFE BROWN, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, received funding to travel to the Philippines to launch a long-term study of terrestrial biodiversity with international collaborators and to engage with the local community to manage its tropical forest resources.

MALAYSIA

JAMES THORP, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, received funding to travel to Malaysia to research stream ecology and insect diversity to advance knowledge of food web structure in understudied Southeast Asian freshwater stream ecosystems.

INDONESIA

PAUL STOCK, associate professor of sociology and environmental studies, received funding to travel to Indonesia to develop, strengthen and maintain institutional exchanges and academic collaborations with international partners and to perform qualitative research and interview new, millennial farmers about technological adoption, land use and urban farming.

PAKISTAN

M. HASHIM RAZA, assistant professor in the Child Language Doctoral Program, received funding to travel to Pakistan to collect data with advanced genetic tools and molecular methods to better understand specific language impairment in consanguineous families.

Grants for Research and Collaboration Abroad awarded more than $46,000 in travel members and one graduate student to collaboration abroad. Recipients will use 2023.

Graphic: Free Vector Maps (freevectormaps.com)

Fulbright Scholar Award Winners

This spring four faculty members received Fulbright Scholar Awards, prestigious and competitive fellowships from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The faculty members are among 800 U.S. scholars who will conduct research and teach abroad for the 2022-2023 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

ABDELMAJID

HANNOUM, professor of anthropology, received a Fulbright Scholar Award to travel to Morocco to conduct research on African migration to Europe.

Beginning this fall, Hannoum will spend a year conducting an ethnographic study of African migrants in several Moroccan cities and the Moroccan-Spanish border, focusing on the risk of death among Moroccan and sub-Saharan migrants. During his time in Morocco, Hannoum will be affiliated with the Institut Universitaire de la Recherche Scientifique (IURS) at the University Mohamed V. Hannoum’s research will be part of a project tentatively titled “In Search of Life: Risk and Danger Among African Migrants in Morocco,” which will build on Hannoum’s work on African migration to Europe. In particular, he will explore the question of death and dying among North and West African migrant youth in the actual crossing of the Mediterranean Sea and in climbing the 6-meter-high fence at the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

The Fulbright award will allow Hannoum to visit several areas of Morocco:

■ Oujda, located on the Algeria-Morocco border where the migrants enter.

■ Rabat, which hosts an unofficial embassy, an office organized by the undocumented migrants themselves, where migrants make contacts with other migrants and smugglers to obtain all the necessary information for their endeavor.

■ North of Morocco, between Ksar es-Sghir and the Moroccan side of the border with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean Sea, where West Africans attempt to and often do cross.

“The award will help me not only conduct one year of fieldwork but also learn more about the social

and political changes ongoing in Moroccan society and the culture of youth migration,” Hannoum said. “This award is meant to facilitate interactions and understanding among people and create real bonds of mutual trust and respect. This makes it very meaningful to me.”

WILLIAM COLLINS, associate professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering, received a Fulbright Scholar Award to conduct research for six months in Finland. Jointly funded by the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and the Fulbright Finland Foundation, Collins was awarded the FulbrightVTT Award in Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Beginning in January 2023, Collins will work with researchers at the VTT Technical Research Center in Espoo, Finland. The research will focus on fracture mechanics, which studies how cracks form and spread in materials. In particular, Collins aims to identify and bridge the gaps that exist between current industry practices and state-of-the-art work in the field of fracture mechanics.

According to Collins, many industries have practices based on an outdated understanding of fracture mechanics, which can result in overly conservative design codes causing higher costs; or design codes that are not conservative enough, which could result in potential failures.

To address this issue, Collins’ proposed work in Finland will include the following:

■ Compiling and re-characterizing a database of steel fracture toughness, which measures a material’s ability to resist cracking.

■ Evaluating fractures at the interface of joints using dissimilar metal welds.

■ Identifying areas where current specification can

benefit from adopting modern approaches to fracture mechanics, focusing on the energy industry and transportation infrastructure.

The award will allow Collins to work with materials and applications that are outside of his primary area of research, which is focused on highway infrastructure. His collaborators in Finland are mechanical engineers who work primarily in the nuclear energy industry. The project aims to use the existing synergies in fracture mechanics to connect civil and mechanical engineering researchers.

“There are many well-respected fracture researchers at VTT, and I look forward to learning from them,” Collins said. “I hope that the relationships I build with them will continue upon my return to KU, resulting in long-term international collaborations.”

The award could also open up new funding opportunities and will result in improvements to the fracture mechanics course Collins teaches at KU.

JAMES WALTERS, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, received a Fulbright Scholar Award to conduct research for nine months in the Czech Republic.

In September Walters joined the lab of Petr Nguyen, faculty of science and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of South Bohemia in the city of České Budějovice. Walters will work with Nguyen to investigate the evolution of sex chromosomes in Danaine butterflies, a subfamily of butterflies that includes the monarch butterfly.

The award will allow Walters to combine his experience in genomics with Nguyen’s expertise in cytogenetics to address a longstanding knowledge gap in the relationship between DNA sequence composition and higher order chromosomal structure in the evolution of sex chromosomes. Investigating the female-specific ZW sex chromosomes of butterflies provides an important counterpoint to the existing precedent of studies focused on male-specific XY sex chromosomes.

“This Fulbright award creates several excellent opportunities for me that I would not otherwise have,” Walters said.

Walters will be able to deepen his collaboration with Nguyen, who was a Fulbright scholar in Walter’s lab at KU in 2017. At that time, the two initiated the research program.

While working in Nguyen’s lab, Walters will obtain training in several cytogenetic methods that are not commonly performed at KU. Concurrently, Walters will be able to offer coaching in genomics and bioinformatics to Czech researchers.

“The award affords me the luxury of extending my sabbatical leave for the entire year, providing me with a wonderfully long stretch of time to focus on and advance my research activities,” Walters said.

STACEY VANDERHURST, associate professor of women, gender & sexuality studies, received a Fulbright Scholar Award to study how Nigerian women are fighting harassment in public spaces.

Vanderhurst will spend the 2022-23 academic year in Nigeria conducting research for her next book project and building relationships with Nigeria-based scholars and students. While in Nigeria, Vanderhurst will be based in the Sociology Department at the University of Lagos, where she will lecture in qualitative research methods and gender studies.

Vanderhurst’s project, “Free Women,” investigates how Nigerian women activists have drawn from global campaigns and moved beyond them to combat harassment of single women.

In Nigeria women are regularly prohibited from going to restaurants or nightclubs alone due to accusations of sexual immorality, especially of sex work. Women driving alone at night face similar harassment from police and private security forces. Vanderhurst is interested in learning how different social movements — both virtual and in the streets — are challenging that stigma and claiming the right to move through public space on women’s own terms.

Specifically, Vanderhurst’s research will investigate three recent anti-harassment movements:

■ A campaign to address rampant groping and verbal abuse of women in crowded outdoor marketplaces. Through the hashtag #MarketMarch, a small group of women has organized a series of protests through Lagos’ Yaba Market and other marketplaces.

■ A campaign to address harassment of women traveling alone at night and more broadly single women’s access to public spaces, including restaurants, housing estates and private transportation. With the hashtag #ToBeAWomenIsNotACrime, women share stories of harassment from rogue state actors and a variety of the other gatekeepers to civic and everyday life.

■ The Feminist Coalition’s contribution to #EndSARS, a campaign against police brutality, and its work to crowdsource donations to provide mutual aid to protesters of the movement. Best known for work that is not overtly focused on women’s rights, the group provides an opportunity to explore how gender intersects with issues in class, poverty, political accountability and public safety.

Studying these campaigns allows Vanderhurst to track where global movements resonate with the diverse needs of women in Nigeria and where activists are constructing new visions for women’s rights in their communities.

“After two years of limited travel, I’m thrilled to resume long-term, immersive fieldwork with this award,” Vanderhurst said.

■ Christine Metz Howard

Fulbright Specialist Award Winners

Two faculty members received Fulbright Specialist Awards during the 2022 spring semester. Established in 2001, the Fulbright Specialist Program provides the opportunity for U.S. academics and professionals with significant expertise to complete short-term, project-based exchanges designed by institutions around the world.

BRIAN ROSENBLUM, co-director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, received a Fulbright Specialist Award to lead a six-week course in digital humanities at the University of Ghana.

Rosenblum traveled to Accra, Ghana, in January, where he led a digital humanities class in the English Department at the University of Ghana, consulted on student and faculty projects, and met with members of CARLIGH (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana), who are developing open access repositories and policies.

While in Ghana, Rosenblum helped advance efforts to establish a digital humanities curriculum at the university and strengthen connections between the University of Ghana and KU in the area of digital humanities.

The project ties into Rosenblum’s research interest in global digital humanities and connecting digital humanities scholars in different countries. He has served on the executive committee of Global Outlook::Digital Humanities (GO::DH), a special-interest group that aims to help break down barriers that hinder communication and collaboration among scholars and practitioners of digital humanities in high-, mid- and low-income economies.

GO::DH recognizes that while funding and visibility of digital humanities is dominated by wealthy countries in the Global North, much of the innovation takes place at the margins, and the perspectives of the Global South are vital for shaping the future of digital humanities. Though he led a class, Rosenblum noted that he was not going there to “teach” digital humanities.

“The purpose of this project,” Rosenblum said, “is to establish a dialogue, learn from each other, do some hands-on work together and build stronger personal and institutional connections between KU and the University of Ghana.”

Rosenblum connected with faculty at the University of Ghana through programs organized by KU’s African Digital Humanities initiative, a project led by James Yeku, assistant professor of African digital humanities.

JAMES THOMPSON, professor of special education, received a Fulbright Specialist Award to lead a series of plenary presentations and workshops in Portugal in the spring. Thompson died in September.

In March Thompson traveled to Portugal for a three-week project with FORMEM, a Portuguese nonprofit organization that develops professional training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Thompson’s presentations and workshops focused on understanding people with developmental disabilities by their support needs, assessing the intensity of people’s support needs, and planning processes that can be used to identify and arrange personalized supports for children in schools and adults in society.

Thompson also had the opportunity to meet with faculty members and graduate students at universities in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon.

Several years ago, Thompson connected with academics in the fields of special education and rehabilitation who saw his work in the U.S. as applicable to the Portuguese context.

Prior to traveling to Portugal this spring, Thompson said, “Over the years we’ve kept up our dialogue. I was thrilled when they suggested pursuing a Fulbright Specialist award for me to work with them in Portugal. It was an honor to have been chosen by the Fulbright Scholarship Board for this award.”

Thompson was a senior scientist in the KU Beach Center on Disability and associate director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. He was a president of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and on the board of directors for the Council for Exceptional Children’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Division as well as the Arc of Douglas County. He was the editor-in-chief of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a professional journal of research, policy and practice that AAIDD publishes.

■ Christine Metz Howard

Fulbright U.S. Student Awards

Three students received prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards to study, conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2022-2023 academic year. Four additional KU students were named as alternate Fulbright recipients.

This year’s Fulbright U.S. Student Award grantees are recent graduates from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Radhia Abdirahman will pursue a master’s degree in public health in Australia, and Ross Acree and Olivia Shaffer will teach English in Taiwan and Madagascar, respectively.

“All three of this year’s recipients are breaking new ground for KU,” said Rachel Sherman Johnson, director of internationalization and partnerships at KU International Affairs and KU’s Fulbright program advisor. “Olivia Shaffer will be part of the inaugural cohort of Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in Madagascar, and Ross Acree will be KU’s firstever Fulbright grantee to Taiwan. As the recipient of the highly competitive Anne Wexler Scholarship in Public Policy, which supports comparative U.S.-Australian policy research, Radhia Abdirahman will make an important contribution to the study of Somali immigrants’ experiences in both countries.”

FULBRIGHT RECIPIENTS

RADHIA ABDIRAHMAN was awarded the Anne Wexler Scholarship in Public Policy, an annual scholarship that enables one U.S. student to earn a master’s degree in Australia in a key area of public policy. Abdirahman will pursue a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis in global health at the University of Melbourne. The opportunity will allow Abdirahman to combine her research interests in public policy, structural competency and community health with her passion for public service. Specifically, Abdirahman’s research will focus on gender-inclusive decision-making for COVID-19 response and recovery within the Somali-Australian community. From Surrey, British Columbia, Abdirahman is a 2022 graduate with bachelor’s degrees in human biology with a concentration in applied behavioral science and global & international studies with a minor in African & African diasporic languages.

ROSS ACREE was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship for Taiwan. From Shawnee, Acree is a 2021 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in global & international studies with a minor in intelligence & national security studies.

FULBRIGHT ALTERNATES

LAUREL ASPEGREN is an alternate for an English Teaching Assistantship in Italy.

JOSEPH HARTUNG proposed to travel to the Netherlands to pursue a master’s degree in international relations at Leiden University.

MELISSA TERRALL proposed to spend nine months at the Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City to study piano.

OLIVIA SHAFFER was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship for Madagascar. From Blue Springs, Missouri, Shaffer is a 2020 graduate with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and women, gender & sexuality studies.

JULIE THOMPSON BORGER proposed to travel to Belgium to study medieval manuscripts and documents for her dissertation.

Photo: Christine Metz Howard

Photo: Andy White/KU Marketing

Photo: Andy White/KU Marketing

Photo: Andy White/KU Marketing

Photo: Grace Marco

KU International Students Bringing the World to KU

112

countries represented in fall of 2021

15.7% of KU graduate student population

7.2% of KU total student population

1,723

international students in fall 2021

4.7% of KU undergraduate student population

Home Countries of International Students

In fall 2021, more than 1,700 international students enrolled at KU’s Lawrence campus from more than 100 countries. The map shows international students’ home countries, highlighting the diversity and breadth of KU's international population.

Graphics: Font Awesome

Graphic: Free Vector Maps (freevectormaps.com)

WhenRussia began its invasion of Ukraine, KU finance student Mykola Hordiichuk didn’t fully believe it was real. After reading previous predictions over the past few years of a Russian invasion, Hordiichuk nor his friends and family back in Ukraine thought it would happen.

“On the actual night on the invasion, I was at the gym and my phone blows up,” Hordiichuk said. “People started texting me and I didn’t believe it. I thought it was some sort of training or propaganda.”

Then, his parents called and showed him video of smoke coming from bombings of a military warehouse in his hometown of Uman, Ukraine, about 130 miles south of Kviv.

“It was quite a shock,” he said.

Since February KU’s Ukrainian students and faculty have been living in two worlds, one where their friends and family are under constant threat of bombings and military attacks in their home country and the other in the United States, where the war is a distant thought for many.

“There’s this dissonance in my head. Because I see all this news, but then I go to university and everything around me is fine,” said Mariia Verbytska, a KU student from Odessa in southern Ukraine.

Throughout the spring, Verbytska said she had trouble sleeping and concentrating on classes as she constantly checked Google for news, worrying about her friends and entire family in Ukraine. Her parents and little brother in Odessa were under constant bombing, spending much of their time in the basement.

For Hordiichuk the past few months have been an

emotional roller coaster. His family in Uman has also dealt with daily threats of bombing, as well as a steady stream of refugees from the east, who shelter at his parents’ home before heading further west.

For his part, Hordiichuk attended protests in Kansas City and Lawrence and a rally at the Kansas State Capitol, as well as spoke to newspapers throughout the region about the situation in Ukraine.

“In the beginning, I felt helpless and useless. My parents told me every plus is a plus, even a small one,” Hordiichuk said.

For Verbytska she found comfort among fellow Ukraine students and support from professors, who allowed for make-up exams, and classmates, who asked about her family and friends in Ukraine.

“It was such a small thing, but it really helped me out,” she said.

SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIAN STUDENTS

Since March International Support Services has been in regular contact with KU’s seven Ukrainian students, advising on immigration matters, providing guidance on financial support and directing them to other campus resources. The units within KU International Affairs have also worked to secure financial resources to support these students, who may be unable to return to their homes or face significant financial difficulties due to the war.

Additional support was leveraged for each enrolled Ukrainian undergraduate student to assist with expenses for the remainder of the 2021-2022 academic

KU COMES TOGETHER TO ASSIST UKRAINIAN STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS

year. The financial aid was possible through support from the Institute of International Education, the KU International Affairs Advisory Board and KU International Affairs as well as the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and schools of Business and Engineering.

The financial assistance has been a ‘huge help’ for Hordiichuk and Verbytska. Both have faced unexpected challenges since the start of the war.

Prior to February, Hordiichuk and Verbytska had planned to return home over the summer. Now they are unsure when they will see their families again. The war has also made their families’ livelihoods uncertain. Verbytska’s mother works for the government and Hordiichuk’s parents own a small artificial Christmas tree production company. Additionally, for Hordiichuk there is worry that family members could be drafted into the war.

“My dad might be drafted, that is a possibility,” Hordiichuk said. “And I would really, really hate that. I just hope it doesn’t happen. I try not to think about it and leave it for tomorrow me.”

LAUNCH KU CAMPAIGN AND SCHOLAR SUPPORT

In April the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Languages & Literatures, in conjunction with KUIA and the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, set up a dedicated fund within the International Affairs office. This effort is connected to an unfolding partnership with the Kyiv National Economic University, which is working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science on establishing Ukrainian Global University, an emerging consortium of higher education institutions in Ukraine that will identify needs and hosting opportunities for displaced students and scholars.

Donations to the fund will enable KU to support Ukrainian students at KU and to host displaced Ukrainian scholars and students.

The Office of Research and the College have each matched those funds, thus enabling KU to host two visiting professors for the current academic year.

Additionally, Graduate Studies and the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Languages & Literatures are offering two fellowships and two graduate teaching assistantships for a one-year accelerated master’s degree in Slavic languages and literatures with a special concentration in Russian, East European & Eurasian studies to students from Ukraine. The program will offer visa support to students, as well as health insurance, tuition and a living stipend.

“As difficult as it is to see the devastating war in Ukraine unfold, it is important that we not sit idly by,” said Charles Bankart, senior internationalization officer for KU. “We can and are making a difference. This war deeply affects us all, not just our many Ukrainian Jayhawks here and around the world, and Russia’s invasion goes against everything we stand for as a community. Working together to support Ukraine in their time of greatest need is our responsibility, and I am proud of how our community has come together.”

Study Abroad Student Views Russian Invasion from Eastern Europe

For some domestic students traveling abroad, the war in Ukraine also affected their spring semester. Studying abroad in the Czech Republic this spring, Nikita Larson had a second row seat as the country united behind Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

Larson, who is majoring in business administration with a minor in global and international studies, was studying in a threemonth program at the University of New York in Prague.

Larson witnessed the city’s weekly protests in front of the National Museum, saw Czechs traveling to Poland to pick up refugees at the Ukrainian border and worried with the rest of Europe as Russia bombed a nuclear power plant.

“It really impacted every aspect of life and was very up-close and personal,” Larson said. During her study abroad experience, Larson said that the university’s campus housing shifted rooms to accommodate incoming refugees, and she rescheduled trips to countries that were along the Ukrainian border.

“I never felt totally in danger, but it was always something that was on my mind,” Larson said. “The war felt more imminent, and I was more aware of it. I felt from the American viewpoint, it was very far away.”

■ Christine Metz Howard

Photo above: Nikita Larson is pictured left standing in front of a Stop War sign at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

Photo above: Mykola Hordiichuk, second from right, attends a protest in Kansas City, Missouri.

Donations can be made through the KUIA Development Fund, please specify the gift will support Ukraine students, faculty and staff. Go to kuendowment.org to give.

2022 International Student Awards

KUInternational Affairs recognized the Class of 2022 international student graduates in a celebration in May at the Kansas Union. During the celebration Roberta Pokphanh, who was serving as interim co-director of International Support Services, presented several student awards.

CLASS SPEAKER

AHMAD BASET AZIZI is a global and international studies, political science and music graduate with a certificate in Global Awareness. In the fall of 2017, when Azizi entered KU, he was the only student from Afghanistan enrolled that term. But being singular was not new to Azizi, who once introduced himself as the best trumpet player in Afghanistan (as one of only two players in the country at the time).

“The story of his journey to graduation is filled with bold dreams, determination in the face of difficulty, sustained effort and the building of a supportive community around him that have helped him to carry his dreams to today,” Pokphanh said.

Azizi was also recently recognized for his leadership with the 2022 Campanile Award, given to a single graduating senior. In June CBS Sunday Morning featured the amazing story of Azizi’s college journey and the reunification with his family, who fled Afghanistan last year.

CLARK COAN LEADERSHIP AWARDS

Named after Clark Coan, who directed the Office of International Students for 33 years, this award recognizes exceptional student leadership.

ABDOUL AZIZ DIALLO is a computer science graduate with a certificate in Global Awareness. The International Support Services staff was first introduced to Diallo when he reached out with interest in the Global Partners program.

He soon was serving as communications director for the program. Perhaps more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, Diallo was at every gathering, phone in hand, capturing the fun and connections of his fellow Jayhawks. He quickly became an integral member of the executive board, contributing ideas

to bring domestic and international students together.

When in-person events were suspended because of the pandemic, Diallo actively sought alternative ways to serve and advocate for the international student community, serving as vice president of the International Student Association and as a member of the International Student Advisory Committee. In these roles, he continued to serve as an advocate for international students at KU.

“Abdoul’s engagement demonstrates the Jayhawk values of unity, innovation, inclusion, and engagement. He represents the very best of our international community,” Pokphanh said.

BANDER ALMOHAMMADI earned a doctorate in Juridical Sciences with Pro Bono Honors. In the fall of 2014, Almohammadi began his KU studies in the Applied English Center and immediately stepped into the role of a student leader. As president of the Saudi Students Association, Almohammadi worked to bring communities together to learn about and celebrate Saudi culture and traditions.

His tireless support of the Saudi community has created a welcoming home in Lawrence for hundreds of international students and their families. Most recently Almohammadi has put his legal expertise to work in KU’s Legal Services for Students office, offering guidance and advice to domestic and international students.

“Bander is a true Jayhawk and exemplifies the application of the Jayhawk values of unity, innovation, inclusion and engagement, demonstrated through outstanding leadership skills in support of community,” Pokphanh said.

CHARLES OLCESE PER ASPERA AWARD

Named in honor of former ISS director Charles “Chuck” Olcese, the award pays homage to the Kansas State motto "Ad Astra Per Aspera," to the stars through difficulty, and honors a student who has shown perseverance.

ETOM MARTIN OBONO completed his studies in the fall 2021 semester, earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences with honors, and certificates in leadership strategies and applications and global awareness. Obono, who came to KU from Nigeria, severed as a leader for the You at KU - International Orientation, welcoming new international

students to campus. Obono participated in many programs hosted by International Support Services, particularly in the Life in the U.S. workshop series where he provided valuable insights from his experience to his international classmates.

NEXUS AWARD

Encouraging inclusiveness and appreciation of intercultural activity and learning, the Nexus Award honors a U.S. citizen who has worked to promote international student integration and friendship at KU.

SURA JARADAT earned her bachelor’s degree in global and international studies with honors and a certificate in global awareness. Jaradat served as

a language and culture liaison with the Applied English Center and consistently demonstrated her dedication to assisting students in a positive, meaningful way. In addition to her major in global and international studies, she also minored in East Asian languages and cultures, Middle Eastern studies, and intelligence and security studies.

Jaradat has an impressive list of accomplishments from her time at KU including her selection as a Foreign Language & Area Studies scholar in two consecutive years; interning at both the International Relations Council in Kansas City and for the Bureau of Near East Affairs for the U.S. Department of State. Her peers and students describe her as “friendly and funny” and “easy to communicate with” and note that she “has a positive attitude and is caring!”

“Sura’s commitment to connecting with our international community in deep and profound ways is immeasurable,” Pokphanh said.

ART HISTORY DOCTORAL CANDIDATE RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AWARD

History of art doctoral candidate Rachel Quist received the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award.

The U.S. Department of Education granted $55,214 to Quist, from Brookline, Massachusetts, to conduct research in Japan for 12 months. Quist was one of 138 fellows in the U.S. who received the award from the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays International Education programs.

The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Program provides opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. The program is designed to contribute to the development and improvement of the study of modern foreign languages and area studies in the United States.

“I am thrilled to see Rachel Quist selected for this highly competitive and prestigious award. Her research will shed light on an important and understudied area of Buddhist imagery, and I am confident she will be an outstanding representative for KU in Japan,” said Rachel Sherman Johnson, KU director of internationalization and partnerships.

This summer Quist traveled to Japan, where she was accepted as a visiting researcher at Osaka University and is conducting research for her dissertation.

Quist’s dissertation explores the relationship between the Japanese imperial family and the temple Daigoji between the 10th and 12th centuries. Daigoji, a Buddhist temple in the mountains bordering Kyoto, was originally founded in 876 as a private hermitage. Through the patronage of the Emperor Daigo (reign 897–930) and his successors, it became a major Buddhist worship site and, as Quist argues, a family temple through which the imperial lineage solidified power and influence.

Quist’s research investigates Daigoji’s icons and monuments to illustrate the centrality of Buddhist imagery to the Japanese court. Her dissertation examines major icons and worship halls created in relation to the imperial lineage and explores the worship of these images and their developing use in imperial rituals throughout the following centuries.

The Fulbright award will allow Quist to visit Daigoji regularly to conduct fieldwork and attend rites and festivals on the temple grounds.

“The opportunity to view the icons and architecture of Daigoji in person will have an immensely positive impact on my research,” Quist said. “This funding will also allow me to gather research materials and visit other temples that are significant to Daigoji’s history throughout Japan.”

Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grants are part of the larger competitive Fulbright-Hays Program, which dates to 1961 when the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright sponsored legislation for several programs that aim to increase mutual understanding between America and the rest of the world. Since the broader Fulbright program’s inception in 1946, 488 KU students, including Quist, have been awarded Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays grants.

Inspired by Study Abroad Experience, Alumna Supports International Education

Likea thread leading from one adventure to the next, international experiences are woven throughout Christine Pederson’s life.

Through her generous support, Pederson, ’68, ensures today’s students have similar opportunities to embark on international adventures. Her financial gifts to Study Abroad & Global Engagement have allowed for students to study at the International Summer School in Oslo, Norway; receive free U.S. passports; and represent their countries and cultures at the International Jayhawk Festival.

“Christine cares deeply about creating opportunities for cross-cultural learning, and for ensuring all KU students can benefit from these experiences," said Angela Perryman, director of SAGE." Her gifts have supported countless students in pursuing their international education dreams, from taking that first step toward study abroad by securing a passport to supporting students in immersive experiences internationally. She is a staunch supporter of and ambassador for the work of SAGE."

Growing up in the northwest Kansas town of Plainville, one of Pederson’s first international connections occurred when her family hosted a woman from India for a month. Pederson, a high school student at the time, had the opportunity to get to know the woman as she showed her around the area and the two even shared a bedroom. A few years later as a college student at KU, that friendship encouraged Pederson to reach out to international students on campus.

“Because of my experience with the woman from India, I wanted to meet the international students, go to their meetings, hang out with them and talk to them,” Pederson said.

Pederson also felt a strong pull to explore her Norwegian ancestry. Her father’s parents had emigrated from there, and her aunt had married a Norwegian and visited the country and relatives frequently.

When a visiting scholar offered a Norwegian language course during her junior year at KU, Pederson eagerly signed-up. Then at her aunt’s urging and thanks to a scholarship, Pederson traveled abroad to the International Summer School in Oslo. The experience connected her with 300 students from 50 countries and allowed her to visit her Norwegian family members.

“It just really changed my life, meeting all these people from all these different countries,” Pederson said. “When I came back to KU, the first thing I wanted to do was signup for the Peace Corps.”

After graduating in 1968 with a degree in American studies, Pederson spent two years in Thailand as part of

the Peace Corps. She lived with a midwife and worked to set-up preschool centers that prepared young children for elementary school.

Her time in Thailand pointed her in the direction of public health, and eventually the field of mental health, where she spent much of her career working in New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Throughout her working years, Pederson continued to travel, returning to Norway seven times as well as visiting other countries throughout the world.

“It just didn’t stop after the Peace Corps in terms of my interest in international people and places and travel. I’ve just fortunately taken advantage of a lot of travel opportunities in my life,” Pederson said.

As soon as she was eligible, Pederson retired, took her camping equipment and backpacked throughout Europe for three months, traveling to Switzerland, France and Italy. In 2010 she returned to the International Summer School in Oslo, where she served on the student council, advising on issues and planning activities.

After giving a presentation about the International Summer School to her Scandinavian Club in Santa Fe, Pederson reconnected with KU’s study abroad program.

“I wanted to do something more. I wanted to advertise the summer school and get more people interested in going,” Pederson said.

To encourage students to attend, she worked with Perryman to establish and fund a scholarship that assists with covering the cost of the International Summer School. Each year KU sends several students to Norway.

Pederson has also supported KU’s efforts to help students pay for a U.S. passport, a common barrier of entry into studying abroad. The program expands access to study abroad to all undergraduate students, particularly first-generation, Pell-eligible, and underrepresented minority students.

More recently, Pederson established grants for global engagement, supporting the involvement of student clubs and organizations interested in representing their countries and cultures at the spring International Jayhawk Festival. With the funds, the groups could purchase items that helped in sharing, celebrating and educating festivalgoers about their language and cultural traditions.

“Being involved with KU’s Study Abroad and Global Engagement feels like a gift to me,” Pederson said. “I’ve truly enjoyed all of the staff that I’ve met and worked with, and I’m looking forward to more exciting adventures together.”

■ Christine Metz Howard

Photo above: Christine Pederson, left, and Angela Perryman, right, at the 2022 International Jayhawk Festival.

STUDY ABROAD SEES SUMMER REBOUND

This summer KU Study Abroad supported 724 students on international study, internship, research and service programs in 37 countries. Following two years of low participation rates due to COVID restrictions, 2022 summer numbers bounced back to near 2019 levels, when 772 students went abroad.

"These figures represent a very strong rebound in education abroad, particularly in light of the status of the pandemic in January and February, when the majority of students were completing applications for the summer 2022 term," SAGE Director Angela Perryman said.

in study abroad programs

724 students traveled abroad in summer 2022

on travel registry

visited

Graphics:

Photo courtesy of Sophia Bachman, Belize

Photo courtesy of Eryn Herrera, Portugal and Spain

Photo courtesy of Alex Lamoureux, South Korea

Photo courtesy of Sandy Kroeker, Germany

For KU Alumni, Study Abroad in Bonn Creates

In the fall of 1971, a group of 12 University of Kansas students embarked on a junior year abroad program at the University of Bonn, Germany. There, they learned the language, took German-speaking classes and traveled Europe, including communist East Germany.

More than fifty years later, members of the group gathered again, this time in Boulder, Colorado, where they made new memories while sharing old ones.

“I have never been to a high school reunion,” said Greg Lynch, who graduated from KU in 1974 with degrees in European history and physics and astronomy. “But Bonn was different because of the people and the bonding experience that we had. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for anything.”

The reunion was the fourth time the group has reunited. The first was in Bonn in 2004, followed by a gathering in 2007 held in Berkeley, California, and dubbed Bonn by the Bay. For the third reunion, the group returned to Bonn in 2011.

Along with KU alumni, the reunions include other Americans who were studying at the University of Bonn that year.

The most recent gathering was held in May, where the former classmates stayed in cottages at Colorado

Chautauqua. They hiked, toured Boulder and spent most of their time together dining and chatting.

“We have nostalgia, but we also have new memories,” said Debbie Carroll, who graduated in 1973 with a degree in German.

In the early 1970s, students needed an adventurous spirit to embark on a yearlong study abroad program, said Brenda Stafford, who graduated in 1973 with degrees in German and political science.

Communication with friends and family back in the United States was limited to letters and rare, expensive phone calls.

“I talked to my parents on the phone twice the entire year,” Stafford said. “We were each other’s support system. And we, honestly, just had a heck of a lot of fun together.”

The KU students started the program with a six-week orientation that included intensive language training and home stays with families in Bonn. Then, the students spent two semesters in German-speaking classes at the university.

The group would review lecture notes together, combining the pieces of German they each understood.

“At the beginning until we got better, it was kind of like a puzzle we were putting together,” Stafford said.

Photo courtesy of Debbie Carroll

Creates Lifelong Bond

As a full-year program, Lynch said, they had an indepth experience living in the country.

Their time in Germany was colored by Cold War politics and fell just 26 years after the end of World War II. On weekends and breaks, the students hitchhiked through Germany, including excursions into East Germany. Lynch described his visit to East Berlin as the “Wizard of Oz” in reverse.

“It went from Technicolor to sepia. Everything was black and white and all dirty and overcast skies,” he said and recalled meeting a young family with a baby girl. “The last thing they said was ‘we hope someday our daughter can visit you in the West,’ which was impossible at that time.”

The year abroad was transformative. Along with gaining lifelong friends, the group said they returned home with a sense of independence and a new perspective on the United States.

“It was the first year of really being independent in your life. You had to solve the problems; you had to make all the decisions,” said Patti Acosta, who graduated in 1973 with a degree in German.

For Carroll it changed how she viewed the world.

“After you came back, you had a whole new

Pictured on opposite page: KU alumni gather in Boulder, Colorado, in May. From left to right: Patti Acosta, Fred Ricks, Debbie Carroll, A.C. Griffing, Sheri Bergen, Brenda Stafford, and Greg Lynch.

Top left clockwise: Students gather at Bonn's main train station in 1971. KU students include Sheri Bergen and Debbie Carroll, left, and Mike Droge, center.

Top right: Visiting the University of Bonn in 2004, left to right, Greg Lynch, Sheri Bergen, A.C. Griffing and Patti Acosta.

Bottom right: KU student Fred Ricks, third from left, with his German host family, the Kretschmers in 1971.

Bottom left: Greg Lynch visiting Beethoven's birthplace in Bonn circa 1971.

perspective on what your life was like and what your culture was like because you had lived in another culture. You had a scientific perspective of what life was like in the United States,” she said.

The experience also shaped their careers. Stafford was a high school German teacher. Lynch had a career in the U.S. Foreign Service and was posted in Germany twice. Carroll took several business trips to Germany.

“The year in Bonn really shifted my trajectory,” said Lynch, who decided to join the Foreign Service after his experience and was placed in Germany because of his language speaking skills.

After returning from Bonn, some in the group continued to stay in touch. In the early 2000s, the idea of an official reunion was born. The gatherings continue to grow with 19 people attending the Bonn in Boulder reunion.

“We are in our 70s, so the numbers should be declining dramatically, but they are not. The reunions keep getting bigger and bigger,” Lynch said.

The adventurous spirit that inspired the group to travel to Germany 50 years ago remains, as does the fun.

■ Christine Metz Howard

Photo courtesy of Greg Lynch

Photo courtesy of Greg Lynch

Photo courtesy of Greg Lynch

Photo courtesy of Debbie Carroll

KUIA names Eron Memaj as International Support Services Director

“I am deeply honored to join an already thriving team at the University of Kansas and to become a member of the Jayhawk family,” Memaj said. “I immediately felt an undeniable sense of community when I first stepped in Lawrence. This is such a great place for international students to experience the U.S., and I look forward to working with a dedicated and caring team of professionals to advance KU’s internationalization efforts. I also look forward to serving and connecting with students at KU and helping them build a lifelong connection with the university.”

Eron

Memaj was named the new director of International Support Services. Stepping into the position on Aug. 1, Memaj came from Kent State University, where he served as director of the Office of International Student Affairs for seven years.

In that role, Memaj created strategies and assessment tools to improve international students’ sense of belonging. He also expanded opportunities for all Kent State students to engage in international and intercultural experiences, facilitated internationalization efforts across campus and organized and executed the university’s first International Resident Assistant Exchange program with Deakin University in Australia.

“I am deeply excited to welcome Eron and his wife, Carrie, to Lawrence this summer,” said Charles Bankart, KU’s senior internationalization officer. “Eron brings with him deep knowledge and rich personal and professional experience as an international educator, and he implicitly understands our mission and commitment to our international students.”

International Support Services provides activities and programming to increase international student involvement on campus and in the community, education about resources on campus and assistance in maintaining legal status while an international student. ISS also oversees international admissions, which recruits and guides prospective international students through the application process as well as helps their transition to life in the United States.

KU’s Lawrence campus has more than 1,700 international students from more than 100 countries and more than 900 international faculty and staff.

During his time at Kent State, Memaj received the President’s Award of Distinction, which recognizes staff members who demonstrate exceptional performance in advancing one or more of the university’s strategic goals. Memaj’s contributions to creating a sense of belonging for international students, alongside other key strategies from campus partners, helped advance the university’s strategic goal of global competitiveness.

During the 2021-22 academic year, Kent State was the only university to receive the prestigious Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The award recognizes successful efforts to integrate international education throughout the university and its campuses. These international efforts came on the heels of Kent State University’s completion of the American Council on Education Internationalization Lab.

“I look forward to partnering with Eron as we build upon the recommendations of our own KU ACE Internationalization Lab efforts, which culminated this spring with our peer review visit,” Bankart said.

Originally from Albania, Memaj completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration and international business, as well as a master’s degree in higher education, from the University of Akron in Ohio. He earned his doctorate in education support from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Joe Potts, assistant vice provost for international innovation and initiatives, and Roberta Pokphanh, assistant vice provost for academics, administration, and diversity, equity and belonging, had been serving as interim codirectors of ISS and returned to their previous roles.

■ Christine Metz Howard

KUIA Staff and Faculty Kudos

BILLIE ARCHER, the executive assistant to the senior internationalization officer, was selected as one of seven KU staff members to participate in the 2021-2022 Staff Fellows Program. The professional development program provides leadership development for employees at all levels of the organization, including those without direct reports, and/or operational, group or department managers. Through this program, participants gain familiarity with campus, engage university senior leaders, and explore leadership through mentoring, assigned readings, and project work. The 2021-2022 Staff Fellows Program cohort joined seven members from the 20192020 group to focus on mental health. Picking up the work of the 2019-2020 Staff Fellows cohort, the group analyzed the cohort’s recommendations and developed an implementation strategy to address the mental health needs of employees.

ELIZABETH GOULD, assistant director for academic affairs at the Applied English Center, has been named a commissioner for the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation. CEA is a specialized accrediting agency that focuses on postsecondary intensive English language programs and institutions. The Commission, which governs CEA, is a body of elected and appointed members. It is responsible for setting CEA policy, for making accreditation decisions, and for fostering the continued development of CEA so that it can continue to respond to the changing needs in the field

of English language teaching and administration.

Elected CEA commissioners are identified based on their professional experience and integrity. They have experience, training, and interest in English language programs and institutions, as well as in program evaluation. They have strong leadership ability, a commitment to quality English language education for international students, and an understanding that their role is to ensure CEA’s standing as a respected, impartial, specialized accreditor and well-governed non-profit organization

JULIE MCCLENAHAN, senior document specialist at International Support Services, received the KU Employee of the Month Award in October. KU recognized McClenahan’s creative ideas, ability to implement solutions to complex issues and willingness to be a supportive and thoughtful team member.

One co-worker described McClenahan as being “extremely selfdriven, customer-experience focused, and innovative with an impeccable work ethic.” McClenahan prepares and produces immigration documents for incoming international students.

While presenting the award to McClenahan in fall 2021, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies Jennifer Roberts noted that in response to COVID-19 changes, McClenahan revolutionized all areas of the new international student experience. McClenahan also took it upon herself to rebuild the student portal and corresponding website information to make it more accessible and informative for students.

One colleague noted that McClenahan is “a leader who is constantly innovating ways to better our students’ experience as well as making our daily work more efficient, which was critical to our team’s work now more than ever when the pandemic uprooted almost any normal procedures we had in place.”

TRIO RECOGNIZES SAGE AS 2022 CHAMPION

This spring, KU Study Abroad & Global Engagement was awarded the 2022 TRIO Champion Certificate of Appreciation. Each year TRIO SES & STEM recognizes a person or department that goes above and beyond to support TRIO students.

TRIO noted that SAGE's support of its newly created study abroad program to Costa Rica has been invaluable. SAGE staff members have not only helped guide the planning of the actual study abroad program but have also provided assistance with arranging for guest speakers and facilitating a collaboration project with the University of Costa Rica when travel was not available. Additionally, SAGE has helped make study abroad accessible for TRIO students through scholarship support and the creation of a TRIO Study Abroad Peer Advisor position. This position has helped provide outreach and study abroad advising to students participating in TRIO SES & STEM.

Pictured receiving the award are Mari Keyser, SAGE program coordinator for Spain and Latin America, and Julie Hamel, assistant director of student programming in TRIO SES & STEM.

ABHAY AND MINA BISARYA SCHOLARSHIP

ForAbhay and Mina Bisarya, Feb. 4, 1968, was a day of destiny.

Seeking a sunnier climate, Abhay, an electrical engineering graduate student, decided to transfer from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, to KU, where his maternal uncle was earning a doctorate in pharmacy.

FATEFUL MEETING INSPIRES FAMILY LEGACY TO ASSIST INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Mina was traveling to KU from Mumbai, formerly Bombay, to pursue a degree in architecture. The plane that Mina was scheduled to travel on had an accident, so she missed her connections and arrived in Kansas a day later than planned. A family friend who knew Abhay’s maternal uncle asked him to pick up Mina at the airport. It was there, waiting for the same ride to Lawrence, where Abhay and Mina first met.

“If she would have come one day early, maybe I would not have met her,” Abhay said.

“It was like destiny,” Mina said.

Over the years, the Bisaryas’ three sons, Alok, Nirav and Mitul, have fondly recounted their parents’ Hollywood-esque meeting. So when the trio was looking for a way to celebrate their parents’ 75th birthdays and 52nd wedding anniversary, they decided to make a gift to the university that brought them together.

Photo courtesy of the Bisarya Family

TO SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Photo top left: A recent photo of Mina and Abhay Bisarya.

Photo above: Mina and Abhay Bisarya from 1969.

“KU was the beginning of their journey,” Nirav said.

The Bisarya family gave $100,000 to KU Endowment to establish and endow the Abhay and Mina Bisarya Scholarship, which will provide scholarships for international students at KU. The family also provided an additional $5,000 to be utilized for the selection of one inaugural scholarship recipient for the 2021-2022 academic year.

For Abhay a scholarship to fund international students was particularly poignant. When Abhay came to KU, immigration laws did not allow him to arrive in the United States with much cash in hand. Because Abhay was traveling from Scotland, the funds he needed to pay for his college expenses were tied up in the Reserve Bank of India. When it was clear the money wouldn’t arrive in time, a KU foreign student advisor suggested he request a loan through KU.

“I was really amazed that a country or a university who hardly knew me would even think about giving a loan to me,” Abhay said. “And I’m so glad they did.”

Today, Abhay and Mina live in Leawood (where they are next door to Abhay’s college roommate and best friend, Hasu Doshi, whom Abhay also met on his first day in Kansas).

In 1986 after several decades of working in the radio frequency and microwave engineering industry, Abhay founded Networks International Corporation, which his three sons later joined. The couple were among the first Indian-Americans to

arrive to the region and became an active part of the community, particularly the Hindu Temple & Cultural Center of Kansas City. Over the years, they’ve opened their doors to friends and family who have emigrated from India. For the sons, establishing a scholarship for international students is an extension of that support.

“This is the first of what we hope are many opportunities to honor our parents and what they’ve built,” Mitul said.

The inaugural scholarship was awarded to Kabir Panahi, a doctoral student in computer science and an Afghan refugee who was stranded in Beirut when his country fell to the Taliban in August 2021. In Afghanistan, Panahi was the director for information technology for the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan and worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and American University of Afghanistan.

The endowed Bisarya Scholarship was crucial in securing the funding Panahi needed to enter the U.S. and begin his program in the fall of 2021.

“The Bisarya Scholarship has made all the difference in enabling Kabir to come to KU and start a new chapter in life as a Jayhawk,” said Charles Bankart, KU senior internationalization officer. “We are deeply appreciative of the Bisarya family’s generosity and so touched that they have chosen to support the educational dreams of KU’s international students in honoring Abhay and Mina’s legacy.”

■ Christine Metz Howard

Photo courtesy of the Bisarya Family

Thank You, Donors!

This past academic year, more than 350 donors supported the work of KU International Affairs. Through their generous contributions, KUIA was able to continue and expand its mission to bring international experiences and opportunities to students and foster a community of support for our international students.

Chinara Abdymomunova

Kathryn A. Algren & Mark S. Algren

David M. Allen & Alma M. Allen Jill M. Allen

Abigail M. Ambrose & Charles Ambrose Kristen Ambrose Anna R. Anderson

Sara S. J. Anderson

Billie D. Archer

Jane E. Averill & Bruce Osen

Jim Bagby & Joann Bagby Mary Ann I. Baker

Charles A. S. Bankart, PhD

Peter Bankart & Brenda Bankart

James F. Barnes Sandra G. Bartlett T. Paige Bearce-Beery Ruth Bent Emily A. Beran

Lisa Walter Beran & Gerald William Beran Jr. John Beyrle Henry C. Bial, PhD & Jane Barnette, PhD Tamia Bible

Casey R. Biggs & Jacklyn M. Biggs, PhD Marie K. Biggs Melissa H. Birch Michael Birger & Julie Birger

Abhay K. Bisarya & Mina Patel Bisarya Kenneth A. Bishop & Barbara M. Bishop Gary J. Bjorge & Nancy L. Bjorge Laurie J. Blackburn Michael Blakeman Sarah L. Bluvas Piotr Bobkowski Kathleen M. Brandes Larry A. Brey, PhD Ian S. Bricke & Jessica D. Bricke Kevin Bricke

Rose M. Broers & Terry Broers Philip C. Brooks Jr. & Susan M. Brooks Carol Ann Brown & Clifton L. Brown Jr. J. Christopher Brown, PhD & Denise L. Perpich

Randolph Lee Brown Donald I. Brownstein G. Wayne Burge

Janet L. Buttery Carolyn F. Caine

Cynthia L. Caywood, PhD & David Hay Paul Cazeaux

Yvonne Channel William D. Chapman Vitaly Chernetsky Heather M. Chester

Anand C. Chitnis, PhD Edith W. Clowes, PhD & Craig L. Huneke, PhD Martha J. Coffman & Patrick T. Curtiss Maj. Julie A. Collins

Bridget R. Compton Kathryn A. Conrad Maisie A. Conrad Stacey A. Cook Chelsea M. Cullen Keah M. J. Cunningham Joy Darrah, MD

Taras Dauzhenka & Liudmila Dauzhenka Deborah Davies, PhD & Marc Lowenstein, PhD

Richard T. DeGeorge

Cat L. Diebel-Wilson David E. Domann & Elizabeth Domann

Myrl L. Duncan

William L. Duncan, PhD Jane F. Edmonds & David W. Edmonds

Andrea L. Eickholt

Edwina C. Eisert

Susan R. Elkins & Jack H. Winerock Lauren R. Erickson Whitney E. Escalante & Alexander Escalante

Jacob J. Estes & Junmo Cho

Tamara L. Falicov, PhD & Stephen Steigman

Thomas M. Farrell & Alesha E. Doan

Donald W. Faught Kathryn E. Favrow

Viron T. Feagan & Martha B. Feagan Andrew S. Fedoravicius, MD Halyna V. Fedosyuk & Illya G. Bronshteyn R. Jeff Fendorf

Joanna B. Fewins & Stephen M. Koranda Janalee Fitchett David A. Fowle

Jennie F. Franta David M. Frey & Helen Hao Cheng Alison Gabriele

Emily L. Galbreath & Ashford A. Galbreath Sunita Gandhi Patricia Weems Gaston

Alexander T. Gerges Kate Gerken & Michael P. Gerken

Aaron Gillespie Nicole M. Gilmore Mark L. Glassman Jennifer Anderson Gongora Carmen Storm Gray & Brian K. Gray Jane Green

Sabrina C. Gregersen, PhD

Michael J. Gresser & Hannelore Lieck Gresser Thomas K. Grutzmacher & Ashley Grutzmacher

Patricia A. Haegelin-Hiatt & Roger L. Hiatt Mark V. Hageman

Michael J. Hageman, PhD & JoAnn M. Hageman, RPH Susan M. Haley Lisa Zarate Hallgren

Brenda Hamel

Elizabeth L. Hamel

Julie Chubbuck Hamel, PhD & Gregory L. Hamel, MD

Sandra J. Hannon & Philip L. Hannon

Allan Hanson

David A. Hanson & Jodi L. Hanson James D. Harder

Dr. Katja Hartmann-Rampelmann Larry E. Hawk & Marcia S. Hawk

Kelley Hayden, PhD Wyatt Haywood

Barbara L. Heasty

Gretchen A. Heasty Michael Heasty

Steven E. Hein & Dianna L. Mourn Christian Henshaw

Sara Thiele Heydari & Michael M. Heydari Harley R. Hill Gail M. Hinkel

Ann C. Holmes Tyler S. J. Holmes Nicole Horton Erin M. Hubert Aaron A. Huerter Stephen R. Hughes & Mary Anne Hughes Janis Brown Hutchison Sara Jackson Frank A. Janzen Peter R. Jarosewycz Scott D. Jenkins & Stacey Vanderhurst August M. Johnson J. Theodore Johnson Jr. & Mary G. Johnson Michael D. Johnson, PhD Donald A. Johnston & Alice Ann Dowell Johnston James K. Jones Robert S. Kafalenos Kristopher K. Keller & Kimberly Loeffert Keller Michelle L. Keller Glen Kemper Jacqueline R. Kenny Maia A. Kipp, PhD

Laura E. Kirk & Paul A. Fellers Elizabeth Kirkpatrick Stewart Kirkpatrick Jill Kleinberg, PhD Susan M. Klusmeier, EdD & Jeffrey E. Klusmeier Julie Peters Knudtson Labconco Corporation Nathan L. Ladd Alexey S. Ladokhin David F. Lambertson Geri R. Lamer

Ashley D. Landis & Daniel L. Landis Brian C. Larkin Daniel E. Lassman

Mechele Leon & Daniel W. Klinger

Josiah S. Lepage Richard D. Lipsey Jr. Allison Eldridge Loft Michel T. Loomis Jennifer E. Ludlow

Megan H. Luttrell, PhD Patricia W. Manning, PhD Nicholas J. Manoogian Grace H. Marco

Rex Martin & Donna Martin James I. Masters Patrick A. Mawhinney Virginia M. McBride Jan McCormick Andrew P. McDonald Lisa McLendon Jennifer S. Mehmedovic & Vanja Mehmedovic Susan Vernon Meier Erin Collins Menaker Stacy K. Mendez, EdD & Genaro Mendez Jr. Susan M. Mercer

Joshua W. Mermis Thomas E. Mertz

Christine M. Metz Howard Gus R. Meyer & Cheryl H. Meyer

Jason R. Meyer Anne Hamilton Meyn Jody E. Milford

Corliss Chandler Miller & Larry C. Miller Jeffrey B. Millikan & Desiree Millikan Heather L. Milton Sarah M. Misemer, PhD Michael A. Moeller Paul J. Monson Katarina Moore Gary Morsch Michael W. Mosser Catherine G. Movich Barbara E. Mulch, PhD * Merrill F. Mulch, PhD * Paul L. Murphy

Julie Numrich Murray & Daniel S. Murray Melissa C. Nabors, DDS & Steven P. Ericson Marilee Neale Lucas C. Neece

Barbara Koval Nelson

Jason E. Neufeld, PhD & Amy Hinkhouse Neufeld, PhD

Samuel T. Nichols Isabel L. Nogues

Patricia A. O’Day James R. Orr & Teresa A. Orr Karen Hall Orr Kevin Ost

Amanda Thomas Ostreko, PhD David C. Oswald Richard S. Paegelow & Chris Tang James H. Page & Liane E.M. Judd Danai Papadopoulou Rodney K. Parr

Bozenna J. Pasik-Duncan, PhD & Tyrone Duncan, PhD

Jay Patterson & Lori L. Heasty Christine Pederson

Richard Perez & Mary L. Perez

Jonathan S. Perkins, PhD Angela M. Perryman & Michael J. Perryman

John J. Petermann & Cecile M. Petermann Daniel J. Peters

Joseph A. Pichler & Susan E. Pichler Valerie L. Pierce, PhD

The Hon. Joe Pierron & Diana Bartelli Carlin, PhD Marta Pirnat-Greenberg & Marc L. Greenberg Julia C. Pitner

Roberta J. Pokphanh, PhD

Shannon Doyle Pope & Kenton Buege Shannon Kreiser Portillo, PhD & Jevan O. Bremby

Joe D. Potts, PhD & Sheryl Kulich Potts Lauren R. Prather-McMullen & Lee M. McMullen

Laura C. Price & Karen S. Burk Lucy J. Price, PhD Dan Purcell

Edward A. Purcell, Jr., PhD Jessica Purcell Charles Ranson Peter L. Rebori Cathy A. Reinhardt & Norman A. St. Laurent

Uwe Karl-Heinz Reising, PhD & Maribel Novo-Fraga Reising, PhD

Susan Boone Reiske & Mark L. Reiske

Susan F. Rice Kate Richard

Paul J. Rieger & Michelle M. Rieger Jennifer Roberts Rebecca A. Roberts Chala R. Roberts-Fife Drew W. Robinson & Allison Jackson Robinson Jean Hardy Robinson, PhD & William L. Robinson, PhD

John R. Rodgers & Lori MacCurdy Rodgers Marilyn M. Roelse

Debora M. Roessler Thomas A. Rudkin & Janette Crawford Rudkin Rebecca A. Rutledge Scott Sackrider Reid Samuel Mary Ann Culwell Saul & Norman E. Saul Lyudmyla Savinkova

David E. Schmidt, PhD & Rita T. Schmidt Col. Leah C. Schmidt, USAF, Retired Susan Elizabeth Schmidtberger & Mark D. Schmidtberger

Lee R. Schnee, MD & Emilie Evans-Schnee Steven M. Schnell, PhD & Lisa Kahn Schnell Christine Little Schock Richard L. Schowen, PhD & K. Barbara Schowen, PhD Leslie McElfresh Schweitzer

Erik R. Scott Nanda Scott Saint Clare Seifert Catherine M. Shafer Ravi K. Shanmugam

Georgia F. Shaw & Patrick B. Shaw

Regina V. Sherrill & William Mark Sherrill Raymond J. Shu Victoria Pitcher Sickinger & Michael G. Sickinger

Samantha Skory Ryan L. Smartt Irina V. Smirnova, PhD

Kathryn L. Smith Lucas S. Snyder

Melissa S. Spaulding Jeffrey R. Spires, PhD

Chris P. Steineger & Shari L. Wilson Viktoria V. Sterkhova Kevin A. Stoda

Nancy Stoms

Carl J. Strikwerda & Gail M. Bossenga Jacob H. Stutzman, PhD & Phyllis Stutzman Joanna G. Sullivan Michelle Swain

Kimberly A.B. Swanson Harrison T. Swartz

Nicholas Syrett

Conor P. Taft

Jessica Townsend Teague Carolyn M. Tharp

Anne Thomas Joanna L. Thomas Anne Thuro Jayson R. Tobias Christine Bliss Tomlin Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, PhD & William M. Tuttle Jr., PhD Zaida Ugalde Ryan M. Vandament & Marcy Farguson Vandament, PhD

Svetlana Vassileva-Karagyozova, PhD

Rachel Vorspan

Nina Vyatkina & Jonathan Van Tassel Richard Wall

Anne D. Wallace, PhD

Edward Wallo

Bridgett M. Walthall

Robert L. Walzel, Jr., DMA & Mary C. Walzel Michelle M. Ward Alison M. Watkins Barbara L. Watkins, PhD

Jean M. Wayne & David B. Clarey Jessica Johnson Webb & Ryan A. Webb Myra Anderson Webber Catalina M. Wedman

Terry Weidner

Michele Weigand Pam D. Weigand Brad Weiner & Katie Weiner Randall M. Westfall

David A. White Johannah M. White Allan W. Wicker, PhD & Edna B. Wicker Scott F. Williamson & Angela M. Williamson Sheree Welch Willis, PhD & Jeffrey M. Willis George S. Wilson & Beverley M. Wilson Veronica L. Wilson

Maureen Mary Wilt

Sallie Pagels Wolf

Dustin T. Wolfe Walter C. Womack & Sheri Seibert Womack

Nathaniel D. Wood & Erin R. Wood Richard D. Woods & Mary Linna Woods Miles Wuller

Jennifer Brackhan Young Ruthann Young

Alexis Bannwarth Zayas & Richard Zayas

1450 Jayhawk Blvd, Strong Hall, Room 300 Lawrence, KS 66045-7594

SUPPORT KU INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Chuck and Camille Olcese have endowed the Per Aspera Fund to assist international students in a time of crisis. Chuck was a former director of International Support Services and Camille was a lecturer with the Applied English Center. Consider donating to this fund to support international students at KU facing unexpected financial need.

Give securely: kuendowment.org/givenow

Please specify the gift will benefit the Per Aspera Fund