International Education Associate Dean Candidates Announced

Three candidates are being considered for the associate dean for international education position within the Graduate School and International Education: Curt Rom, interim dean of the Honors College and University Professor of horticulture; Peter Ungar, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology; and Robert Wiedenmann, professor of entomology. Each candidate will give a seminar describing his vision for international education at the University of Arkansas.

Rom previously served on the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences International Programs Committee and Course Instruction. In that role, he supervised international internships and led study abroad tours throughout Europe. He is a member of the International Society for Horticulture Sciences, and through the Society he presented at various international congresses, symposiums and workshops and provided leadership to multiple working groups. Additionally, he served as a horticulture consultant in Asia, Australia and South America.

Rom received a Fulbright fellowship to teach in the Agripolis of the University of Padova in Padova, Italy in 2008 and held a courtesy appointment to the Department of Horticulture and Agriculture at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua in Mexico from 2008-13. He will give his seminar at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 16, in Arkansas Union rooms 507-508.

Ungar has co-led and co-developed U of A study abroad programs in Africa, facilitated travel abroad for graduate students and conducted research on six continents. He serves as the adviser to the university's Indonesian Student Society, and he and his wife are a host family for the iFriend program.

Ungar has been an honorary faculty member of the University of Witwatersand in Johannesburg, South Africa for nearly 15 years and helped broker a memorandum of understanding for student exchange between that university and the U of A. He is also an honorary visiting professor at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia and previously served as a short-course instructor at the University of Helsinki in Finland. He will give his seminar at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 24, in Arkansas Unions rooms 512-513.

Wiedenmann has led multiple study abroad tours in Mexico and Central America, and he developed and led biology control short courses in Europe and Central America. He has made recruitment presentations in Dominica for the U of A and previously organized a global conference with the Mexican Society for Biological Control.

While on faculty at the University of Illinois, Wiedenmann served as the liaison officer for a memorandum of agreement between the University of Illinois and Zamorano University in Honduras. He has given keynote addresses at several international conferences and has conducted field work across the globe. Additionally, he and his family frequently host international students from the Spring International Language Center. He will give his seminar at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 13, in Arkansas Union rooms 512-513.

The search committee plans to have the associate dean in place this summer.