“A World of Difference”

Speech by Gilles Bousquet

Saturday, March 10, 2007
9:00 a.m.
Wisconsin Union

SLIDE 1

It’s a great pleasure to be here today and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the

Morgridge Center.

What I’d like to do this morning is to give you a sense of the range of

international service going on at UW-Madison. Universities like ours are large and

complicated organizations where much of our work is decentralized and often not as

visible as it should be. I hope that in the next 20 minutes or so I’ll be able to draw

together some of that work and develop a bigger picture for all of us.

Much of what I’m presenting here, while not exactly new to me, has been an

education for me. Because, frankly, I didn’t realize how extensive our track record in

international service – both past and present – has been. How we have made and are

making a world of difference.

SLIDE 2

Almost from its inception, UW-Madison has had a tradition of commitment in

international education.

UW-Madison was the first campus in the nation to establish a Scandinavian

Studies department, in 1875. Its creation in Wisconsin is related to the fact that

Scandinavian settlers began to arrive in Wisconsin in the early 1840s. Other pioneering

efforts in language and area studies were to come.

We also recognized early in our history that international students add dynamism

and diversity to campus, bringing new perspectives and breaking down barriers to

communication and understanding.

We began welcoming international students in the 19th century, among them

students from Canada, Hungary, Germany, and Japan.

The first Cosmopolitan Club (top photo) in the U.S. was founded here by

Japanese students in 1903. There was a Chinese students’ association in 1912. In 1924, a

Thai student named Phra Chuang Kasetsinlapakan was awarded a master’s of science

degree. In 1948 he became Thailand’s Minister of Agriculture, one of the first of our

many distinguished Thai alumni. (Today, UW has 3,000 international students from 100

countries.)

In May 1940, Belgium’s Pro Arte Quartet (bottom photo), one of the world’s

most renowned string quartets, was stranded in the U.S. as German forces invaded

western Europe. UW-Madison offered the quartet a permanent home on campus and a

UW arts institution was born.

SLIDE 3

World War II, new international awareness and engagement, the emergence of

independent nations, and the Cold War led to a new emphasis in international studies at

UW-Madison.

We established our first study-abroad programs in the 1960’s – to India (middle

photo) in 1961 and Aix-en-Provence in 1962 (top). The belief was that to truly

understand another country, you needed to live there for an extended period of time. (We

now have some 95 programs on virtually every continent, and send 1,600 students around

the world each year.)

By 1962, five area studies programs had been established in African, South Asian,

Latin American, East Asian, and Russian studies. (Today, we have eight national

resource centers within the International Institute, a number not exceeded by any other

university.)

We were also excelling in languages. The Center for Luso-Brazilian Studies

(bottom photo) was established in 1959 but UW-Madison had been teaching Portuguese

since 1931, one of the few universities in the U.S. to do so. (Today, UW-Madison has a

Language Institute and faculty that teach 65 languages, including many less commonly

taught languages.)
SLIDE 4

Besides a commitment to international education, we have had a tradition of

service, as exemplified in the Wisconsin Idea – the boundaries of the campus are the

boundaries of the state. But The Wisconsin Idea is wider than Wisconsin.

Our scientists have played an important international role.

In the first half of the 20th century, UW biochemists began discovery of key

vitamins which have eliminated disease and crippling ailments around the world.

Among the discoveries was vitamin B, which led to the prevention of the nervous

system ailment beriberi.

In 1938, biochemists Conrad Elvehjem and Frank Strong (middle photo) isolated

and identified niacin – a B vitamin – and demonstrated that pellagra was caused by a

niacin deficiency. The application of this discovery eliminated pellagra as a significant

health problem. Elvehjem later became UW-Madison president in 1958.

Harry Steenbock (upper photo), a distinguished professor of biochemistry, figured

out how to convert carotenes to vitamin A, and produce vitamin D by ultraviolet

irradiation. He was also instrumental in demonstrating that copper and iron cure

nutritional anemia. The production of vitamin D by ultraviolet irradiation virtually

abolished rickets, a widespread and debilitating disease.

Professor Karl Paul Link (lower photo), isolated the chemical compound

coumarin from spoiled hay, leading to development of an anti-coagulant that is widely

used to treat heart disease as well as to kill rodents.

SLIDE 5

I mentioned service, but there has also been courage.

Two of the best exemplars were Mildred Fish and her husband Arvid Harnack

(top photo). Mildred was from Milwaukee, and Arvid from Germany – they both met and

fell in love while studying at UW-Madison. They were arrested on September 7, 1942

and tried for their role in 'Die Rote Kapelle,' the Red Orchestra, an anti-Hitler,

underground resistance organization that was trying to bring an end to the war. Arvid was

sentenced to death and executed on December 22, 1942 and Mildred was executed on

February 16, 1943, the only American civilian to suffer that fate.

More recent UW heroes battling for human rights and international respect and

understanding have been our Peace Corps Volunteers, nearly 3,000 of them since 1961.

Year to year, from 1986 to 2006, we have been the top recruiter of volunteers.

Among the first recruits were Terry and Carol Peterson (bottom photo). They

were assigned to Brazil to help elementary school teachers introduce health and nutrition

courses. When the Petersons were photographed in Recife on a medical visit, Carol had

gotten through her first year unscathed but Terry had lost 30 pounds and suffered from

two types of dysentery, intestinal parasites, food poisoning and several skin afflictions.

From the beginning, UW-Madison was an active partner in Peace Corps training

as well as recruitment. In summer 1962, 41 young teachers pitched tents in a Wisconsin

swamp for a four-day training camp set up by UW-Madison to help them prepare for the

rigors of volunteering in Africa’s Ivory Coast.

SLIDE 6

UW-Madison has several strategic priorities. To promote research, advance

teaching, nurture human resources, amplify the Wisconsin Idea. And accelerate

internationalization.

Today, an international education is critical for success in an inter-connected,

multi-cultural world. Today, the Wisconsin Idea is defined in global terms.

SLIDE 7

The Division of International Studies coordinates international activity on campus

and promotes international education and cooperation both on- and off-campus. We do

this:

ƒ By internationalizing teaching, learning, and research through initiatives

for students and faculty (right, 1 and left, 1 photos)

ƒ By partnering with schools and colleges

ƒ By promoting international experiences, such as study abroad, fellowships

and field study (right, 2 and left, 2 photos)

ƒ And by connecting with global organizations and international alumni

SLIDE 8

To succeed in a globalized world, our graduates and our citizens need to be

globally literate. That means:

• Fluency in a language other than English (top photo)

• Coursework in area and international studies

• A study-abroad academic experience (middle photo). Increasingly it’s important

that our students go to non-traditional destinations, to Africa, Asia and Latin

America. (middle photo)

• An international academic experience – working for an international company or

an NGO, with an underpinning of coursework and faculty advising (bottom

photo, JR Central internship)

• And an international service experience.

SLIDE 9

The strength of UW-Madison lies in our ability to ensure that our students are

globally literate. Through our reputation as a global public research university. Through

partnerships across the world, with universities, governments, corporations, and private

institutions advancing research, discovering solutions, and forging people-to-people

relationships. For example:

UW-Madison recently received two multi- million dollar National Science

Foundation grants that are now supporting the training and research of more than 40

doctoral students. One project targets biodiversity conservation and sustainable

development in the eastern Himalayas of southwest China, where there has been a long-

term collaboration between CALS and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Ken Shapiro,

top photo). Another project involving the Nelson Institute involves a group of

interdisciplinary faculty trying to help us better understand and deal with global climate

change and other complex environmental hazards.

Another example is Worldwide Universities Network, an international alliance of

17 leading higher-education institutions including UW-Madison. Some 2,000 faculty,

staff, and students across the world are engaged in a variety of projects and exchanges in

fields such as cryogenics, cystic fibrosis, the role of law and society in developing

countries, and women’s studies. (Phil Farrell, bottom photo)

SLIDE 10

Just as we are making a difference through international research collaboration,

we are making the world a better place through the Peace Corps. Since the program

began in 1961, UW-Madison has produced 2,764 volunteers. We rank second nationally

behind the University of California-Berkeley as the all-time top producer of alumni

volunteers. For 20 years, until 2007, we produced more volunteers annually than any

other university. Peace Corps volunteers work in diverse fields, such as HIV/AIDS

education and prevention, information technology, business development, the

environment and agriculture, and have been placed in 72 countries from Asia to Central

America, Europe to Africa.

A UW-Masters International program lets our students combine Peace Corps

service with a graduate degree program, combining excellent academic credentials and

international experience.

Earlier I mentioned the Petersons who were early Peace Corps recruits in Brazil.

Another volunteer was Jim Friedlander. Jim was an English teacher and sports organizer

in Malawi. He became the first secretary of Malawi’s Olympics and Commonwealth

Games Association. Using his connections, he also helped build the Blantyre Youth

Sports Centre, which Friedlander says for almost 40 years has continued to train some of

Malawi’s top soccer and tennis players. Friedlander returned to UW-Madison as a

Distinguished Practitioner in Residence in 2006. He is founder and sole partner of a

Moscow-based law firm.

SLIDE 11

There are new models of service, too. One of them is Engineers Without Borders.

Peter Bosscher, EWB’s advisor, will speak more about the exciting work of Madison’s

chapter later this morning, but let me just say a few things here.

EWB is a student group that creates sustainable engineering projects in

impoverished areas both in the United States and abroad. And it’s not just for engineers.

Students from several disciplines on campus have rolled up their sleeves.

In Rwanda, EWB worked on improving a gravity-fed water system to deliver

clean water. In Thailand, they constructed a latrine and septic system and helped in the

construction of a school. In El Salvador, they are designing a wastewater collection

system for two communities.

Closer to home, EWB helped with hurricane relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana.

In Monona, EWB is working with the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in flood damage

restoration and erosion control. The center is visited by 30,000 people each

year, including many children, and the flooded paths have not only been an

inconvenience but a safety hazard.

SLIDE 12

Also making a difference is the Center for Global Health, a joint initiative of

Medicine and Public Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, and International

Studies, officially inaugurated in December 2006.

The Center develops global health education programs, advances global health

research, facilitates global health partnerships and exchanges, and fosters an

interdisciplinary network of global health scholars. Thanks in large measure to the

Center:

Approximately 40 students will participate in field courses in Thailand, Ecuador

and Uganda this summer. These students spend a semester in academic preparation, then

participate in a field experience that includes further academic work and community

service.

The Center is developing a partnership with the University of Guadalajara in

Jalisco. The effort is interdisciplinary, taking in human health, animal health, and

environmental issues, providing students with a global perspective and preparation to

serve diverse populations in Wisconsin.

Medical, nursing, pharmacy and vet med students are doing overseas clinical

rotations.
SLIDE 13

Like Engineers Without Borders, the Village Health Project is another student

piloted service project making a difference.

VHP was started in 2005 by a group of students after they took a CALS

International Health and Nutrition Program and a field experience component in Uganda.

(The goal of the program is to learn about health and nutrition issues faced by people in a

developing country. Because HIV/AIDS continues to be a central issue in Uganda’s fight

against infectious disease, the program’s faculty and staff look carefully at HIV/AIDS’

relationship to nutrition. During the field experience in Uganda, UW’s James Ntambi and

John Ferrick worked closely with colleagues in Uganda organizing trips to homes,

hospitals, rural health centers and AIDS clinics.) The students returned home wanting to

do something to help the villagers they met.

Today, our students are working with an AIDS support organization in Uganda

selling AIDS ribbons from HIV+ women to raise money for the women and to support

water improvement projects. The students have sold 4000 pins for about $20,000 dollars.

Village Health has been the recipient of two Wisconsin Idea Undergraduate Fellowships

in the amount of $15,000, which have enabled them to build both water tanks and bio-

sand water filters.

` A total of 30 students have participated in service learning projects but more

students are involved beyond those who have traveled to Uganda. Participation in the

Village Health Project is open to all UW-Madison students.

SLIDE 14

Often, study abroad has a service component where students perform valuable

community service in a variety of ways.

Alisha Kirshoff volunteered at a center for women and families in Russia.

Jona Anderson taught English to middle-schoolers in Italy.

Our recent “out of the classroom” three-week learning experience on social

justice in Cyprus is a good example of the academic service learning opportunities that

can be developed for our students.

SLIDE 15

Our graduate students and fellows are also performing community service as part

of their research.

Susan Gold, a pediatric nurse at UW-Madison’s Children’s Hospital, was one of

15 UW-Madison students who received a Fulbright Fellowship. She is in Kenya for 10

months, and as part of her research, is working at Nyumbani Children's Home, an

orphanage for HIV positive children.

SLIDE 16

Another Fulbrighter this year, John Pederson (top photo), is teaching high school

English in Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra. One of the projects he’s been involved

with has been building a student radio station.

Although the station has its lighter side, it has also been designed to communicate

disaster relief information, not such an improbable role given last week’s earthquake in

northern Sumatra. We are glad to report John and his students are all right.
SLIDE 17

I mentioned faculty collaboration earlier. Faculty are also making a difference by

organizing international alternative breaks.

Professor Robert Skloot, in the departments of Theatre/Drama and English, has

led student groups in the past four years to diasporic Jewish communities in Camaguey,

Cuba (2003—middle photo), Cordoba, Argentina (2004) and Izmir, Turkey (2006 –

bottom photo). From six to eight students connected to the Mosse-Weinstein Center for

Jewish Studies, which provided the funding, journeyed to these countries to experience

Jewish cultures different from theirs. The visits involved home stays and work projects.

For example, in Cuba, the students spent a week restoring a synagogue and cemetery in

town.

Although most of the students received no academic credit, Bob reports that one

Cuba trip participant began a research project for which she was able to write a senior

thesis, and another traveler was so changed in outlook, he joined the Peace Corps after

graduation.
SLIDE 18

Committed students, committed faculty, committed staff. Like Rick Brooks,

shown here in 2005 in his Division of Continuing Studies office in Lowell Hall

coordinating tsunami relief and reconstruction assistance in Sri Lanka with volunteer

Ruth Ellickson.

Rick is outreach program manager in Continuing Studies and executive director

of Sarvodaya USA, Sri Lanka’s largest charity

For several years, Rick has been facilitating service learning in Sri Lanka. On his

latest trip he is helping the country’s largest legal services organization develop a

strategic plan for the next five years.

Brooks’ efforts have produced 17 UW-Madison graduates, including Colleen

Condon, a Wisconsin Idea fellow who returned to Sri Lanka to establish a social work

field placement program, and Laurel Norris who also participated in UW-Madison’s

South Africa science teacher exchange program. Another graduate is Paul Zenke, who

went on to join AmericaCorps VISTA, and Shihoko Fujiwara, who joined the Polaris

Project on human trafficking in Washington, D.C.

SLIDE 19

Alumni are also making a difference in developing international academic

internships and service projects for our students.

Scientist Paul Brey, who is the regional advisor for the Asia Pacific region of the

Pasteur Institute International Network, has helped spearhead a partnership with Pasteur.

As part of that partnership, up to four of our students will be able to participate in an

International Academic Internship there.

SLIDE 20

This is the Morgridge Center’s tenth anniversary, and it’s only fitting to also

highlight the Center’s important contributions to international service.

I’ve mentioned several Wisconsin Idea Undergraduate Fellowships – Engineers

without Borders, Village Health Project, and Sarvodaya, USA. But it’s more than these.

About 15 percent of the 70 Wisconsin Idea fellowships awarded since 1999 have

had an international emphasis and involved at least seven countries. But I don’t doubt

that the number will increase in the years ahead. I’m pleased to note that in 2005-06,

more than half of the fellowships had an international component.

The Morgridge Center is also working across campus to increase academic

service learning courses with an international orientation. A great example is Tess

Arenas’ award-winning “Crossing Borders Environmental Justice at the U.S./Mexico

Borders,” which last summer enrolled twelve students from multiple disciplines in this

four-week course, and which will be offered again this year.

SLIDES 21/22

But just what is international?

When you look at some of the Wisconsin Idea fellowships, you see that they

involve Hmong and Hispanic communities in Wisconsin, or teaching Chinese language

and culture to fourth and fifth graders in Madison. To my mind, this is international.

I mentioned earlier that the Wisconsin Idea is global, going around the world.

But it also means that the global is local, right here at home.

So, by that definition, service is through programs like International Reach, a

program coordinated by International Student Services where international students go

across campus and into the community to serve as speakers and resources on their

cultures and contemporary global issues.

It is also the LOCUS program established in 1998 within the UW Medical School

creating a support system for medical students performing community service.

SLIDE 23/24

So, we are looking at a global vision of what we do.

SLIDE 25

After all, we are a global university – thinking and operating globally, educating

globally, engaging globally.

Thank you.