Asia Center Director Janet Theiss Wins Global Engagement Award

The College of Humanities is honored that Janet Theiss, director of the Asia Center has been presented with one of the first two inaugural Awards for Global Engagement.

This is a new annual award established by the Office for Global Engagement (OGE) to recognize faculty and staff contributions to the university’s global dimension -- those who have demonstrated excellence in providing support to international students, international partnership development that engages students, and other programs that provide significant opportunities for global learning either on campus or abroad. 

This marked the first year that the Award for Global Engagement was offered, and nominations will continue to be accepted each spring semester. Sabine Klahr, deputy chief global officer of the U of U, was excited to finally make the award a reality, with its emphasis on making internationally significant impacts both on and off campus. 

"The University of Utah has a long history of global engagement, which has been driven by faculty and staff in various disciplines and administrative units whether it relates to learning abroad opportunities for students, internationalizing the curriculum, language study, global research collaboration and service, capacity building abroad, or welcoming international students and scholars on our campus,” Klahr described. “Through the Award, the Office for Global Engagement intends to recognize individuals in our campus community who have made extraordinary contributions to advance the U's global dimension.” 

As for the nominees who took home the awards this year, Klahr said she was particularly satisfied with the faculty selected for this inaugural honor. “I am especially pleased that Janet Theiss, director of the Asia Center, and Juan Carlos Claudio from Modern Dance received the inaugural Global Engagement Award. Both have been instrumental in expanding global and intercultural learning on our campus, collaboration with entities around the world, funding for global initiatives, and have contributed to enhancing the diversity among faculty and students on our campus." 

The award includes a $1,000 stipend and recognition at a campus-wide reception, which will be held in early April each year. Nominations for the next set of Awards for Global Engagement will begin in early spring 2016. 

Learn more about the work of Janet Theiss here and the U of U's Asia Center here.