A Global University

A Global University. . , 1. E. C. Stakman's (second from right) work in plant pathology drew scholars from around the world , 2. Nobel Peace Prize winnter Norman Borlaug, Ph.D. '42, in Mexico , 3. U of M delegation arrives in Seoul, South Korea, to assist with postwar rebuilding, 1956 , 4. Ahmed Zahour (right) conducts Morocco Project fieldwork , 5. First U of M delgation to Cina, 1979 , 6. U of M project in Warsaw, Poland, to improve transition to privatized agriculture after the Cold War, 1991 , 7. Institute of Technology alumni and students lead 8,000 schoolchildren in creating a geodesic globe, 1993 , 8. Student interns from the Minnesota Studies in International Development program, Kenya, 1999, The World in Minnesota , The University has long attracted some of the world's best students. The first international students, from Canada and Denmark, were recorded in 1874; the earliest student from China attended in 1914. In the wake of World War II, the number of international students at the University increased dramatically, their experiences enhanced by intercultural research, counseling, and advising., Minnesota in the World , University of Minnesota agricultural research helped build its international reputation and resulted in programs in Korea, Chile, Tunisia, Morocco, the Caribbean, Rwanda, and Central and Eastern Europe. Strengths in the liberal arts and in education, health sciences, engineering, and management also made their mark, contributing, for example, to the University being selected as the lead institution guiding the rebuilding of Seoul National University after the Korean War., In 1979, Minnesota was one of the first educational institutions invited to send a high-level delegation to China, led by Board of Regents chair Wenda Moore and senior faculty, laying ground work for future educational initiatives. At the end of the 20th century, the University established executive MBA degrees offered in partnership with educational institutions in Poland, Austria, and China., Study Abroad , A wave of global awareness in the decades after World War II was the impetus for students to go abroad. University students founded SPAN (Student Project for Amity among Nations) in 1947, led the nation in service to the Peace Corps in the 1960s, and in 1968 founded the nation's first student-led international study and travel center., Study abroad has expanded through an initiative begun in the 1990s to integrate study abroad into the undergraduate curricula and through the University's strategic goal that half of its undergraduates will have an experience abroad before they graduate., Building a New World , The University of Minnesota's efforts to increase participation in study abroad, including internships, service-learning, volunteer, and work opportunities, mirror its continued ability to attract the world's brightest students and scholars. Together, these initiatives create a global university that promotes and sustains international activity by faculty, students, and staff, at home and abroad, to address the needs of the future.