Aug. 30, 2002

Contact: Anne Merydith-Wolf, International Programs, (785) 864-4963.

2 KU professors share provost's international leadership award

LAWRENCE -- A University of Kansas business professor and a humanities professor will share the fourth annual Provost's Award for Leadership in International Education. Melissa Birch, associate professor of business, and Diane Fourny, associate professor of French and Italian and of humanities and Western civilization, will be recognized at the annual faculty convocation at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 5 in 110 Budig Hall.

The award, created in 1999, honors outstanding faculty leadership in strengthening KU's international dimension. Both Birch and Fourny have developed new curricula, led programs abroad for faculty or students, and been the catalyst for expanded programming across disciplines at KU and with partner institutions abroad. The two professors will share a $1,000 award in the form of funding for professional activities.

Birch was instrumental in securing two consecutive U.S. Department of Education CIBER (Center for Business Education and Research) grants for KU, the latest this year for $1.4 million over the coming four years.

"These monies have enabled her to achieve synergies between departments and KU's area studies centers that have swept through our campus like wildfire," said Renate Mai-Dalton, associate professor of business.

Since her arrival at KU in 1997, Birch has taken faculty abroad on a Fulbright grant, created the curriculum that leads to the dean's certificate in international business, built collaborations between business and humanities faculty, established partnerships with business and educational institutions abroad, and created a model for short-term study abroad opportunities for evening MBA students at KU's Edwards Campus in Overland Park.

"Professor Birch was the driving force behind the establishment of the Center for International Business Education and Research, which establishes KU as one of the leaders in international business education in the U.S.," said Paul D'Anieri, chair of the nomination committee. "Through her leadership, the CIBER has been an engine of internationalization not only for the School of Business, but for the entire university."

Fourny has been instrumental in developing a significant aspect of the international curriculum at KU since her arrival in 1988. She has been a mainstay of the humanities and Western civilization program in addition to teaching French and European studies courses. As director of the Center for European Studies, she serves as the clearinghouse on the European expertise of KU faculty and staff and is the principal adviser for 26 co-majors in European studies. She has forged key partnerships for KU with the CIBER programs and with the French Trade Commission and the consular services in Chicago.

"Professor Fourny has worked tirelessly to forge a coherent European studies program out of the university's wide range of existing activities in that area," said D'Anieri. "Through her leadership and hard work, a program has been created with very little new investment in an area of critical importance."

Fourny has developed and taught new courses, developed three new study abroad programs and taught or directed in several others, and organized public forums. The latter has included bringing in speakers to address the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prizes -- including 1996 Peace Prize co-winner Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor -- and working with the Division of Continuing Education to run a four-part course in the KU for Lawrence program on the same topic.

Carl Strikwerda, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a colleague of Fourny's, praises her for a deep commitment to students as an adviser, her passion for teaching, her tireless energy and her strong administrative skills. "There are few who can combine these talents to create new programs and expand existing ones, all with the goal of helping more students and enriching their education in international studies," says Strikwerda.