Steven Duke named assistant program director of education abroad programs
Steven Duke of Christiansburg, Va., former student services coordinator and assistant director of international academic programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been named assistant program director of Virginia Tech’s Education Abroad office, part of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development.
“Steven Duke brings tremendous ideas and energy to Virginia Tech's Education Abroad programs,” said S. K. DeDatta, associate provost for international affairs director of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development. “We support these new initiatives and welcome Steve's leadership in expanding our international education programs to enhance student participation and diversify destinations.”
The Office of International Research, Education, and Development addresses Virginia Tech’s missions of teaching, research, and outreach internationally.
Virginia Tech has offered education abroad programs for more than 30 years, with more than 800 students studying abroad annually. In addition, 20 to 30 faculty members lead programs abroad each year. The university has more than 60 bilateral exchange agreements with colleges and universities on six continents and owns and operates its own residence and classroom facility in Switzerland, the Center for European Studies and Architecture.
The Education Abroad office counsels students on education abroad and work abroad programs; provides information about scholarships and financial aid to defray costs of the international experience; assists faculty wishing to start and continue education abroad programs; gives advice on tuition waivers, housing, and other issues; provides an orientation program for students before they study abroad; and offers other travel resources.
“My goal is that students arriving at Virginia Tech will expect that some sort of international activity will be part of their undergraduate experience, whether through a full-year exchange program, a short-term faculty-led program, an unpaid internship, international research, or something else entirely. It is essential that the entire Virginia Tech community — faculty, administrators, advisors and staff — work together to make that goal a reality,” says Duke.
“I enjoy working with faculty to identify where a study abroad program would integrate effectively within the curriculum and in which countries their students would have a high-quality educational experience,” Duke explains. “Once we address these questions, education abroad will become a normal part of a Virginia Tech education. My office needs to work with the academic departments in an active and collaborative way to make this happen.”
Duke has experience in both administration of international programs for students and in teaching. He came to Virginia Tech from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as student services coordinator from 2002 to 2005 and as assistant director of International Academic Programs from 2003 to 2005. He previously was associate director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia and an assistant faculty associate in the history department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously taught at Brigham Young University and Indiana University.
Duke earned his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Indiana University. He has traveled abroad extensively and did research in Russia and Estonia in 1994 and 1995 to 1996.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
