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Dear Alumni and Friends,
Spring semester is coming to a close and we are reaching the halfway point for 2021; bluebonnets dot the landscape, the live oaks stand tall and strong, reminding us of our collective resilience with a reassurance that bright days lie ahead. Indeed, despite the challenges of the past year, we have prevailed in significant ways, and we remain steadfast with our commitment to expand UT’s internationalization efforts.
Commencement is upon us and we are eager to celebrate our graduates by wishing them continued success in their future endeavors. We also take this opportunity to highlight recent accomplishments:
- Published UT Austin’s first comprehensive Global Engagement Report showcasing the rich international activities across all 18 colleges and schools;
- Received the Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization for overall excellence in global engagement, the highest recognition of institutional commitment to international education;
- Awarded 11 faculty members the newly launched Texas Global Faculty Research Seed Grants to conduct collaborative research and address global challenges with institutions in Portugal, Pakistan, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Jerusalem, Chile, and Spain;
- Launched the newly conceived President’s Award for Global Learning facilitating interdisciplinary faculty and student mentorship, fostering new and deepening existing partnerships around the world, and leveraging technology to infuse global learning into the classroom; and
- Hosted a series of Texas Global Dialogues bringing together 500 global alumni across 40 countries.
Again, I join the UT community in extending a heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2021! These global citizens have persevered in the midst of a challenging season and we are excited to witness the many ways in which they will serve as Longhorn nation ambassadors around the world.
Please take a moment to read and enjoy our stories of global engagement in the newsletter below.
With warm wishes,
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Sonia Feigenbaum, Ph.D.
Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement/
Chief International Officer
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The University of Texas at Austin is one of five recipients of the 2021 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization, an honor given by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, recognizing UT’s internationally focused initiatives and innovative global approach to student outcomes, faculty research, institutional development and alumni engagement.
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The latest edition of the World University Rankings by Subject names 41 areas and programs at The University of Texas Austin among the top in the world.
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The newest edition of “Best Graduate Schools” from U.S. News & World Report ranks 49 graduate schools and programs at UT in the top 10.
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GLOBAL STORIES AND NEWS ———
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In UT Austin’s first global engagement report, discover our motto in practice – what starts here changes the world — highlighting the contributions of our 18 colleges and schools, partners and alumni around the world.
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Research and Creative Activity
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The latest edition of the Alcalde, “What starts here saves the world,” offers an in-depth look at the UT scientist and research lab whose work played a pivotal role in the creation of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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The multidisciplinary initiative, resulting from a collaboration between the Department of Asian Studies and Taiwan's Ministry of Education, is dedicated to promoting Taiwan’s society, history and culture on the UT campus.
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The UT Institute of Geophysics’ newest team member, Chinese computational geoscientist Dunyu Liu, is bridging geophysical research and high-performance computing at UT.
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Liu received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Distinguished Scholar Award: Arctic Chair, Norway. She will research and teach at the Academy for the Arts at UIT The Arctic University of Norway.
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Admiral Bobby Inman, a veteran of the NSA and CIA, UT Austin alumnus, and professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs gives his take on global hotspots during the full year of the global pandemic and its economic impact.
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At the onset of the pandemic, the Blanton Museum made its collection accessible online, and in honor of Women’s History Month, focused on women artists aiming to change the world through their art.
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Using NASA satellite images and machine learning, UT researchers have mapped changes in the landscape of northwestern Belize over a span of four decades.
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Marcelo Paixão, associate professor of African and African diaspora studies, received the Inclusive Classroom Award for his undergraduate course, Tones of Inequality: How Songs Express Latin American Social Inequality, Exclusion, and Injustice.
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Diana Arriaga has experienced her first year at UT from home in Matamoros, Mexico, engaging with the world through her online classes, making connections and exploring new ideas.
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Global Ambassador and advertising major Bailey Cho chronicles her experience studying in Paris this spring on the Education Abroad Blog: “Every time I step outside my apartment, I discover something new.”
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Jaime Ortega enrolled in the English Language Center in 2019 to improve his writing and pronunciation, continuing with virtual programming during summer 2020. He intends to leverage his advanced English proficiency to pursue a master’s program in water management and environmental engineering in the U.S.
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From reducing food waste to improving quality of life for the elderly, five tech-focused student startups from UT were accepted into the global Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars Spring Fellowship program, chosen from a pool of applicants from 30 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Ireland.
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Texas Global awarded grants to seven faculty members to design new online international learning courses exploring topics ranging from primate conservation in Uganda to architecture and climate change in the Galapagos, comparative cultural perspectives on inclusive education and hands-on field research on rice farming in Texas and Asia.
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Eleven UT faculty collaborating with peers in Australia, Chile, Egypt, France, Pakistan, Portugal, South Africa, Spain and Jerusalem are the inaugural recipients of the Texas Global Faculty Research Seed Grant, a Texas Global initiative designed to cultivate international partnerships and fund transnational research that addresses some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
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The faculty awardees of the Global Career Launch grants will examine sustainable development in Brazil’s river basins, compose an orchestra with Butler School of Music alumni and trombonists in Switzerland, investigate sustainable material development and designs in Denmark, and explore culture and society in Jerusalem.
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During the three-month virtual fellowship, young entrepreneurs representing 11 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean learned skills and best practices to grow their businesses and social ventures from local Austin organizations during the U.S. Department of State’s 2021 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program.
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Entrepreneurs representing nine countries across Southeast Asia will participate virtually this spring in UT Austin’s Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development program as part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Academic Fellowship, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State.
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Dr. Paul Evans (B.S. '02) studied abroad in Australia while pursuing his engineering degree at UT Austin. Now a trauma surgeon working on the frontlines, he established an endowment named in honor of his grandparents to support scholarships for undergraduates to gain the experience and perspective that comes from studying abroad.
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In an interview featured recently in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Texas Engineer Magazine, international Longhorn Sumit Singh (M.S.E. ‘03) describes his thoughts on leadership, business, and his experience working for top companies from Amazon to Dell, as well as his current role as CEO at Chewy, one of the largest online retailers of pet food and pet supplies.
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Alumni shared their photos from past Flying Longhorns expeditions in a recent contest on the Texas Exes Facebook page. The winning images include remarkable scenes from India, Iceland and Morocco.
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An ardent supporter of education and the arts, Long is the namesake of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), widely regarded as the best Latin American studies program in the United States.
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May 16, 2021
Butler School of Music:
May 18, 2021
Texas Exes:
May 20, 2021
Blanton Museum of Art:
May 22, 2021
University-Wide:
English Language Center:
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May 25, 2021
Texas Exes:
May 26, 2021
College of Natural Sciences:
May 31-June 27, 2021
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas:
June 24-25, 2021
Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL), and Texas Language Center (TLC):
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@UTAsianStudies: AS Major Cameron Waltz Awarded the Boren Scholarship for Study Abroad in Taiwan. Cameron is a triple major in AS/East Asia conc, Chinese, & IR & GS (IRG). This highly competitive scholarship will support Cameron’s year in an immersion program at the ICLP Congratulations, Cameron!
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