IU’s global ties enhance our impact and expand opportunities

Indiana University's footprint extends well beyond the borders of our campuses, state, and nation. I recently experienced IU's worldwide presence firsthand when I traveled with an IU delegation to Germany and France. During the trip, I engaged with international partners and alumni abroad to better understand IU’s global ties and the potential to enhance opportunities for our faculty and students that will strengthen our impact. 

 At our IU Europe Gateway, I was welcomed by a wonderful community of alumni with strong connections to our university. The event included a performance by Astrid Müller and Kathrin Sutor, two Jacobs School of Music alumnae, and it was a pleasure to thank all those present for their steadfast commitment to IU and to learn about their time on our campuses. While in Berlin I also met IU alumna Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy of the German Government for International Climate Action, whose determination to tackle the tremendous challenges presented by our changing climate is inspiring and serves as a reminder of the potential within all IU students to shape our future. 

 I connected with presidents, leaders, faculty, and students of three partner universities that demonstrate IU's rich history of global engagement and commitment to future collaborations: Freie Universität Berlin,Universität Hamburg, and Sorbonne Université. Our relationships with these outstanding research institutions have created a wealth of mutually beneficial opportunities for IU faculty and students, including:  

• A student exchange with Freie Universität Berlin that spans six decades. 
• Faculty research collaborations with Universität Hamburg in a wide array of areas like education, linguistics, and biology.  
• A virtual lecture series with Sorbonne Université, “The Great Inventions that Changed the World,” which also engages faculty from National Autonomous University of Mexico, another of IU's partner universities. 

IU has 7,293 international students enrolled on our campuses throughout Indiana who hail from 141 countries; we also host 602 scholars from universities around the world. Our alumni chapters are active in 42 countries, and many reconnect with our university through the five offices in our Global Gateway network.

As we mark International Education Week, we can reflect with pride on IU's leadership in international education. Earlier this year, 11 centers in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Kelley School of Business were awarded $17.7 million from the Department of Education’s prestigious Title VI program, more than any university in the U.S. 

The global engagement developed throughout IU's long history gives us a solid foundation to build on, yet there is potential for more. We are ambitious in our goals for IU faculty to pursue transformational research with partners around the globe and for our students to have extraordinary educational experiences abroad. IU is committed to deepening our international connections and establishing new partnerships that will make a positive impact on the world. 

Pamela Whitten 

President
Indiana University