Recent News 
SIS Hosts Appreciation Luncheon to Recognize Recent Donation of Ethiopian Artifacts
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The School of International Studies held an appreciation luncheon September 20th
to recognize the recent contribution of Ethiopian artifacts. Ms. Lou Ann Skinner
and Mrs. Vera Preston-Jaeger have given items to SIS to be displayed in the
cabinet outside the Wes Watkins Center’s Point Four Room that commemorates OSU’s
ties with Ethiopia. Skinner’s father Ralph Skinner was one of original members
of the OSU-Ethiopia Project. Preston-Jaeger’s grandfather Henry G. Bennett was
the legendary OSU president appointed by US President Harry S. Truman to head
Truman's new national Point Four Program. One of Point Four’s (now USAID) first
projects was the contribution of OSU faculty members to help the developing
nation of Ethiopia from 1952-68 in establishing a land grant agricultural
education system similar to OSU’s. Those is attendance at the luncheon included
Former US Congressman Wes Watkins and his wife, Lou, the current Chair of the
OSU Board of Regents; Don Wagner, the last active OSU faculty member who was
part of the OSU-Ethiopia project, Conrad & Joy Evans, SIS Bennett Fellows
and OSU-Ethiopia Project members, and Paul Bass, who recently wrote a biography
of Henry G. Bennett entitled No Little Dreams.
Jim Shideler, IEO Coordinator, Global Contacts, formally thanks Ms Lou Ann Skinner for her significant contribution to preserving the heritage of the OSU-Ethiopia Project with her generous donation of many Ethiopian artifacts. The cabinet behind them is one of two outside the Point Four Room in the Wes Watkins Center on the OSU Campus that displays the items.
SIS Joins the Department of Agriculture Sciences & Natural Resources to Host an MOU Signing Between OSU and the University of Bamako of Mali, Africa
Monday, September 17, 2007
The School of International Studies joined the Department of Agriculture Sciences & Natural Resources (DASNR) on September 17th to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between OSU and the University of Bamako of Mali, Africa. The agreement stems from a project awarded to DASNR by the US Department of State to help Malian journalists “understand, acquire, and practice professional standards in their work”. Trips between and OSU and Mali were made to Mali in March and to the US in July. The School of International Studies is housed in the Wes Watkins Center, which provides the perfect venue for such agreements to be signed. The Watkins Center’s Point IV Room is dedicated to the efforts of OSU’s legendary president Henry G. Bennett who led US President Harry S. Truman’s Point IV initiative (now USAID) which sought to establish relationships between US and foreign universities to share the US’s knowledge. The Point IV Room was the venue for Monday’s signing. For more information about DASNR’s efforts with Mali, click here...
Pictured (l-r) are Dr James Hromas (director of International Education & Outreach), Dr Samake (representative of the University of Bamako), and Dr Robert Whitson (Vice President and Dean of the College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources). Dr Samake observed as Drs Hromas and Whitson, along with OSU’s Interim CEO & President, Dr Marlene Strathe (not pictured) signed the MOU establishing a relationship between OSU and the University of Bamako. The agreement will be taken to Mali in December where the University of Bamako’s rector will sign it in a similar ceremony.
Mexico Liaison Office Celebrates One Year and Hosts Celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day
Friday, September 14, 2007
On Friday, September 14th, OSU’s OSU - Mexico Liaison Office celebrated its one year anniversary as well as celebrated Mexico’s Independence Day. José Sagarnaga, the manager of the office, visiting Stillwater for meetings, hosted the evening’s festivities. Approximately 100 people from the university and community were on hand for the celebrations. In addition, university officials from Chihuahua Mexico’s campus of Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), who were visiting with OSU faculty and the School of International Studies about an exchange program next summer, attended the party. Mr. Sagarnaga and the graduate students assisting him were extremely pleased with the positive turnout. For more information about the OSU-Mexico Liaison Office click here…
José Sagarnaga, manager of the OSU-OSU - Mexico Liaison Office (back row, 4th from left) poses with the Office’s graduate assistants (GA’s) (who organized the evening’s activities), Mexican dancers, and Dr James Hromas (director of International Education & Outreach) behind the food that the students prepared for the evening. Pictured front row, l-r are Maria Mejía (OSU-Mexico GA), Paulina Sanz, Enrique Sánchez (OSU-Mexico GA), and Christian Arregin. Back row, l-r, are Dr. Hromas, Juan Carlos Bolaños (OSU-Mexico GA), Macario Ruiz, Mr. Sagarnaga, Alejandro Hernández, & Ramón Burciaga (OSU-Mexico GA).
More pictures of this event
The School of International Studies Welcomes Students from Kyoto Japan
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
On September 12th, the School of International Studies joined with Oklahoma’s Secretary of State’s office in hosting a delegation of students from Kyoto, Japan. The students were here to visit Oklahoma, which has a sister state relationship with Kyoto. Stillwater has a sister city relationship with Kameoka, Japan, which is in the Kyoto prefecture. While on the Stillwater part of their state visit, the students toured the OSU campus, met and discussed world issues with students in SIS, and visited with members of Stillwater’s Sister City Council. In previous years, Oklahoma former Lieutenant Governor and current US Congresswoman Mary Fallin has taken a delegation of students, including several SIS students, to Japan to visit the Kyoto prefecture. This was the first year that a delegation from Kyoto came to Oklahoma.
The Kyoto student delegation poses with SIS students after the groups discussed current issues of the day. Chris Morriss (far right), Special Assistant to Oklahoma Secretary of State Susan Savage, hosted the delegation while they were in Oklahoma.
More pictures of this event
B. Curtis Hamm Becomes an SIS Ambassador
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
B. Curtis Hamm, OSU Professor Emeritus of Marketing, became an Ambassador for the School of International Studies earlier this fall for his financial contribution to the school. Ambassadors for the School are designated as those individuals who contribute $1000 or more per year to the School. The School will hold its first annual meeting of The Ambassadors on December 14th in conjunction with the SIS Fall Graduation Ceremony. For more information about the Ambassador Program or to become an Ambassador for the School, you can contact Jim Shideler at 405.744.4804 or jim.shideler@okstate.edu.
Dr James Hromas, director of International Education & Outreach, presents B. Curtis Hamm with a crystal globe to commemorate his membership in the School of International Studies’ Ambassador Program.
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