Columbia College, in partnership with Columbia Engineering and the School of General Studies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Shannon Marquez as the dean of Undergraduate Global Engagement. She will provide leadership for the collaborative development of a comprehensive vision and strategy in order to ensure all Columbia undergraduates have the opportunity to achieve defined global competencies.
Following the departure of Michael Pippenger, the former dean of Undergraduate Global Programs, the College initiated an extensive consultancy on global engagement, involving discussions with faculty, staff and students as well as multiple studies of peer institutions. As a result, the Office of Global Programs and Fellowships will begin a transition this fall, which will include being renamed the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement.
The center will have an expanded mission to enhance access, support existing programs and develop new opportunities for undergraduates to pursue global education and develop global understanding. Serving as a hub of global activity on campus, the center will bring together undergraduate students, faculty from throughout the University and staff to guide, consult and support new and existing global programs and opportunities, internships, academic study as well as research and service learning. Marquez will drive the center’s mission, further develop its infrastructure and provide day-to-day management of the staff who directly counsel and advise students on global opportunities. She will begin transitioning into her new role in early November and will be fully on board in January 2019.
“We are thrilled to welcome Shannon Marquez to the University,” said James J. Valentini, dean of Columbia College and vice president for undergraduate education. “Shannon’s broad range of leadership experience in academia and international development will facilitate the creation of the center’s vision and propel a path towards greater connection of global programs throughout the University to the three undergraduate schools.”
Marquez joins the University with an extensive background in global environmental health and international programs, most recently as the vice provost for international development and professor of global and environmental health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She has held faculty appointments at several higher education institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania Center for Global Health, Temple University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Iowa.
“Among many things, I was drawn to Columbia because of the renowned Core Curriculum at Columbia College, Columbia’s reputation as a global university and the innovative global initiatives that transcend disciplines and borders,” said Marquez. “I am very excited to engage with faculty, students, academic departments and other senior leaders on the expansion and enhancement of academic and co-curricular opportunities for global learning, and to help lead the effort to extend the global engagement strategy beyond traditional study abroad.”
Marquez holds a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences and engineering from the University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health; a M.Eng. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University; and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Prairie View A&M University.