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WIU's Phi Beta Delta Adds 24 Inductees

May 8, 2012

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MACOMB, IL- Western Illinois University's Phi Beta Delta International Honor Society chapter Eta Epsilon welcomed 24 new members at its fourth induction ceremony in April.

According to WIU's chapter website (wiu.edu/international_studies/phi_beta_delta), "The purpose of the Eta Epsilon chapter is to recognize and encourage high professional, intellectual, academic and personal achievements in the field of international education. This chapter will serve to encourage international programming and promote the exchange of ideas and information among an interdisciplinary network of faculty, staff, students, community members and alumni involved in international endeavors."

Inducted into Western's chapter, which was established in 2009, as an honorary member was Provost Ken Hawkinson.

Community members inducted include Macomb Mayor Mike Inman and his wife, Melissa. Mayor Inman has traveled to several embassies in Washington D.C. and traveled extensively through Europe and the Caribbean. Melissa Inman studied abroad in France in high school and college. She teaches French at St. Paul School in Macomb and has helped teach English as a second language to French students. The Inmans have hosted numerous exchange students, and their oldest child participated in a study abroad to Denmark.

WIU student inductees are:
ILLINOIS
BLOOMINGDALE- Alexandra Lamar is a sociology graduate student. Lamar studied a semester in Ormskirk, England, and was able to travel to other countries, including Italy. During this spring semester, she traveled to Russia with her Russian Agriculture class.

CHICAGO (60659)-Mariana Zeid Saba is a graduate instructional design and technology student who was born in Jordan and is now a U.S. citizen. She has studied in both the U.S. and in Jordan. Saba has faced the challenges of a transplant immigrant in learning a new language and absorbing a new culture.

EAST MOLINE- Zachary Ryan Andrew is a senior biology major, who is currently a patient care technician at Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island (IL). Andrew has been actively interacting with international professionals and patients with international backgrounds.

FARMINGTON- Caleb Carl Taylor is a senior history education major. He has attended international Boy Scout jamborees in Great Britain and Sweden and scouting activities in Canada. Taylor has also completed study abroad trips in Australia and Russia.

OTHER STATES:

ALASKA
ANCHORAGE- Lily Blouin is a history graduate student. She has worked with international students in the University Advising and Academic Service Center. Blouin is a 2011 WIU BFA musical theatre graduate, an honors scholar and earned highest academic distinction (Summa Cum Laude). In November 2010, she went to China with Theatre Professor Jeannie Woods' Starry Night Repertory theatre, performing "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged" in Shanghai and Beijing.

OTHER NATIONS:
COLOMBIA
Diana Khleif is a senior supply chain management major from Colombia. She earned a bachelor's degree in international trade and strategic marketing management in Colombia and is working on her second bachelor's degree. While in Colombia, she taught English as a second language to kindergarten students. At WIU, Khleif volunteers for the Muslim Student Association. She is fluent in Spanish, English, Arabic and German.

JORDAN
Assyad Al-Wreikat is a graduate student from Jordan working on his master's degree in mathematics. He earned his Masters in Economics from Western Illinois in Spring 2010. At WIU, Al-Wreikat volunteers at the Casa Latina Cultural Center and is an ambassador for the Center for International Studies. He also serves as a council member in PACT (Parent and Child together) for children.

MYANMAR
Bawk Mai Aung is a health sciences graduate student from the Northern Shan State. Bawk practiced medicine and volunteered for cyclone relief in Myanmar before coming to Western Illinois. While at WIU, she has been helping with international student orientation.

Zin Ko Latt is a graduate health services student from Myanmar. He was a student at the Federal Institute of Technology in Malaysia, which was his first study abroad experience. His experience as a doctor following the devastating cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar (2008), led him to WIU and the public health/education curriculum.

NIGERIA
Esther Omowumi Lamidi is a sociology graduate student from Nigeria. She volunteered locally for Bridgeway in 2011, and she co-authored the article "brain drain to capital drain," which she presented at a Culture Cáfe at WIU.

PANAMA
Itzelda del Carmen Lascano is a Panama native working on her degree in instructional design and technology. The soon-to-be U.S. citizen has worked as a government contractor in Kuwait, Dubai, Qater and Bahrain.

Carlos Alexis Lascano is a graduate instructional design and technology student from Panama. He has academic degrees from Panama and Brazil. He previously served on the faculty at the University of Panama and was a federal contractor with the U.S. Army in Kuwait.

SAUDI ARABIA
Eshraq Ghazi Alkhabbaz is completing a six-month internship at Western Illinois University while studying at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT. The Saudi Arabia native earned her bachelor's degree in communication from WIU in Fall 2010. When she attended WIU, she served as the public relations officer for the Muslim Student Association. She has been involved in various cultural programs, including a Department of State grant on "Overcoming Arabic Stereotypes."


FACULTY INDUCTEES ARE:

Associate Professor of Sociology Chris Ann Adamski-Mietus has traveled to numerous countries, including Poland and England. She is an active member of many international foundations and organizations, such as the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Police National Alliance and the Polish Women's Alliance.

Greg Baldi, assistant professor of political science, studied in Germany and has published and presented research on various European countries including Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He also has supervised American students interning in the British Parliament.

Assistant Professor of Spanish Daniel Brown has studied abroad in Argentina, Spain and Mexico. He previously taught study abroad programs for Marquette University and the University of California-Los Angeles. This summer, Brown will lead the Western Illinois Spanish Experience (WISE) Costa Rica program at WIU.

Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration Assistant Professor Minsun Doh was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She taught Korean language to Vietnamese college students in Saigon before attending Texas A & M University, where she earned her doctorate. She has incorporated intercultural learning opportunities in her classes and is engaged in internationally-focused research.

Seongchan Kim, assistant professor of engineering and technology, is the faculty adviser for the Korean Student Association at Western Illinois. Native to South Korea, Kim has traveled to several Asian countries and speaks Korean, English, French and Japanese.

English Professor William Knox, former director of Western's Centennial Honors College, has taught English as a second language, conducted interviews for Fulbright candidates and has promoted study abroad programs. Knox has traveled to several European countries and has taken many American students on study abroad experiences.

Heather Lan McIlvaine-Newsad, professor of anthropology, studied at the Universitat Heidelberg in Germany. She speaks German and Spanish, and her anthropological fieldwork sites include Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Italy and Germany. She has also done fieldwork in the Grand Isle, LA, area pre-and post-Hurricane Rita and Katrina for NOAA Fisheries.

Chair of the Department of Social Work John Tracy's international experiences include being the field education coordinator for the division of social work at the University of Guam, taking students to Hong Kong for an international conference and arranging study abroad programs to Guam and Nepal while at the University of Wyoming.


PHOTO ID:
FRONT ROW (L-R): Itzelda del Carmen Lascano, Minsun Doh, Eshraq Alkhabbaz, Diana Khleif, Chris Adamski-Mietus, Esther Omowumi Lamidi, Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Bawk Mai Aung

MIDDLE ROW (L-R): Mike Inman, Carlos Lascano, Zin Ko Latt, Seongchan Kim, Zachary Andrew, Alexandra Lamar, Melissa Inman, Assyad Al-Wreikat

BACK ROW (L-R): William Know, John Tracy, Caleb Taylor, Dan Brown, Gregory Baldi, Marko Kranjc (PBD vice president), Ken Hawkinson

Not Present: Lily Blouin, Mariana Saba

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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