Karl Markgraf named associate vice president for international affairs
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Karl Markgraf's new title. It was reported incorrectly in the original version of the story.
BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 25, 2015 – Karl Markgraf, who has spent the last 17 years as director of the Center for International Education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will be the new associate vice president for international affairs beginning Sept. 10.
Vice President for Outreach and International Affairs Guru Ghosh said of Markgraf, "Karl is a seasoned and accomplished international educator. I look forward to having a dynamic, energetic leader joining Outreach and International Affairs. Karl's deep knowledge and experience in all areas of international administration will serve him well in his new role at Virginia Tech."
At UW-Eau Claire, Markgraf collaboratively developed and oversaw the International Fellows Program, which encourages students and faculty members to conduct research outside the United States. His expertise also includes study abroad program development, foreign student advising, intensive English programs, and international student recruitment.
Markgraf will fill a post at Virginia Tech that has been vacant since Ghosh became vice president two years ago. Both positions play key roles in Virginia Tech's global strategies as outlined in the university's A Plan for a New Horizon. Ghosh, who began his tenure at Virginia Tech in 2011, has furthered the university's global agenda and overseen the extension of federal funding for international agriculture research.
Markgraf has taught German at the University of Florida in Gainesville and at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He has traveled extensively in Asia, Latin America, India, and the Middle East. Those are parts of the world where Outreach and International Affairs is most focused on advancing Virginia Tech's important engagement work, Ghosh said.
"We are on the verge of announcing new projects or achieving significant advances in our work in India, China, Latin America, and the Middle East," Ghosh said. "As we shoulder this ambitious agenda, we welcome a passionate new leader to help advance the goal that President Timothy D. Sands expressed in his October 2014 installation speech — that Virginia Tech will become a top-100 global research institution by 2022."
Markgraf's portfolio at Virginia Tech will include Global Education, along with International Support Services and the Office of International Research, Education, and Development. The office, with its research portfolio of $114 million, oversees a significant portion of the university's international research. Markgraf also will be involved in Virginia Tech's education and research centers across the world, including the Steger Center for International Scholarship in Switzerland.
"I'm excited to be part of a team at Virginia Tech that is enlarging the university's global footprint," Markgraf says. "A great American university in the 21st century must have an ambitious and visible global agenda."
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
