EAST LANSING, Mich. – Eleven Michigan State University faculty, staff, alumni and students, as well as a fine arts camp director will be honored at the university’s annual International Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, March 21.
The MSU Office of International Studies and Programs has sponsored the annual event since 1991 to bring together MSU faculty, staff, students, community volunteers and others from the wider Michigan community to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions toward international understanding.
The public ceremony begins at 3 p.m. on the third floor of the Delia Koo International Academic Center with MSU President Lou Anna Simon and Provost Kim Wilcox among those scheduled to give remarks.
Honorees range from an alumnus who is the governor of Bank Indonesia, to faculty members who are working in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to students and a retiree whose efforts have fostered the internationalization of the campus and surrounding community.
This year’s list of recipients and awards are as follows:
Jianguo (Jack) Liu, expert on the state of the world’s environmental resources, particularly well known for his work that couples human and natural systems, will receive the Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs at MSU. He holds the Rachel Carson Chair in Ecological Sustainability, is a University Distinguished Professor of fisheries and wildlife, and directs the newly founded Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability.
David Robinson, University Distinguished Professor of history and African studies at MSU, will also receive the Smuckler award. He has taught at MSU since 1978 and has made a signal contribution to the study of African history with research in Francophone Africa. He has mentored scores of graduate students from the United States and abroad, facilitated exchanges between MSU and a major partner university in Senegal, and has been a pioneer in developing African history on the Internet.
Burhanuddin Abdullah, governor of Bank Indonesia and chair of the Indonesian Economic Association, will receive the Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award. He received his master’s degree in economics from MSU in 1984. He was appointed governor of the International Monetary Fund for Indonesia, represents Indonesia at the Asian Development Bank and serves on the advisory board of the Green Earth Foundation.
Gretchen Birbeck, associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Epidemiology and director of the International Neurological and Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, has been selected for this year's John K. Hudzik Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs Award. As a clinical investigator, Birbeck serves six months each year in the African countries of Malawi and Zambia, conducting research studies on cerebral malaria and AIDS.
Peter R. LaPine, associate professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, will receive a Special Recognition Award. For the past several years, he has organized and led groups of students, alumni and health care professionals, including MSU and adjunct faculty members, on missions to Mexico.
Rhonda Crackel, academic specialist in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, will receive the MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Study Abroad. She is co-founder and lead instructor of the International Food Laws Study Abroad Program. Her dedication and commitment have sustained this highly successful program, now in its 12th year.
Rui M.S. Bonfica, recent doctoral graduate in agricultural economics, is this year's recipient of the Gill-Chin Lim Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Global Studies. Bonfica’s dissertation, “An Analysis of Income Poverty Effects in Cash Cropping Economics in Mozambique:Blending Econometric and Economy-Wide Models,” has already had policy effects in Mozambique, where he currently works for the World Bank.
Gretchen Kuschinski Stansell, founding director of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Exchange Program in Twin Lake, will receive the Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contribution to International Understanding. Through her efforts spanning four decades, nearly 30,000 European, Asian and American young artists have had the opportunity to participate in the camp's cultural and musical exchange.
Three students and one community member will receive the Homer Higbee International Education Award for making significant contributions to the enhancement of international communication, understanding and cooperation at MSU through service activities.
The student Higbee awardees are: Eric Burham Bailey, a Jamaican graduate student in the Department of Agricultural Economics, who was the founder and first president of the Caribbean Students Association and currently serves as the president of MSU's International Students Association; Kristin Janka Millar, a doctoral student in the Department of Teacher Education, was selected as a Fulbright-Hays fellow to conduct research in Belize in 2005 and has been involved at bringing a global perspective to K-12 education in the Greater Lansing community; and Norseha Unin, a Malaysian doctoral student in educational administration, whose involvements in a variety of campus and community organizations and activities have contributed greatly to cross-cultural education.
Peggy Arbanas is the recipient of the Community Volunteers for International Programs (CVIP) Homer Higbee Award. She served as an adviser in the MSU Office for International Students and Scholars for 24 years and was the key link between MSU’s international students and the community. She has continued to play a major role in CVIP since retiring from MSU in 2005.
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