Curt Rom, associate dean for International Education, has been selected as an Association of International Education Administrators 2017-18 Presidential Fellow. The fellowship program is a highly competitive mentoring initiative for senior international officers in the first three years of their position.

The Presidential Fellows are matched with mentors who will provide guidance on issues of professional interest. Fellows are given a small stipend to fund a visit to their mentor's campus to observe how experienced senior international officers and their institutions address international education challenges and solve problems. Fellows will also learn about national and international issues and how they affect individual campuses, and they will become members of a national network which can serve as a resource beyond the Presidential Fellows program. Rom, a University Professor, is in his 29th year at the University of Arkansas and in his second year serving as the campus' senior international officer.

Rom will be mentored by Bailian Li, the senior vice provost for Global Engagement at North Carolina State University. Li has served as the institution's chief international officer for more than 10 years and has decades' worth of experience living and working in foreign cultures.

"I am honored to have been selected by my peers as a recipient of this prestigious fellowship, and I am thrilled to be mentored by Dr. Li, who brings extensive knowledge and experience to his role as a leader in international education," Rom said. "This fellowship experience will lead to strengthened international education at the University of Arkansas and in our state."

The University of Arkansas is home to more than 1,460 international students from 120 countries. Additionally, the number of students studying abroad is at a record level. Nearly 1,100 students studied abroad during the 2016-17 academic year.

About the Association of International Education Administrators: The Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) is the only association specifically for leaders in international higher education. Founded in 1982, AIEA is hosted at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and is comprised of more than 450 institutions around the world engaged in advancing the international dimensions of higher education.