Globe-Trotter

Dickinson’s new global-education director a leader in the field

by Bill Sulon

April 6, 2010

Stephen C. DePaul, the new executive director of global education, will oversee more than 40 programs in 24 countries on six continents. Approximately 59 percent of the 2009 class studied abroad at some point before graduation.

Stephen C. DePaul not only knows global education; he lives it.

DePaul, the new executive director of global education and associate provost, has lived in 18 states and two countries, Italy and Mexico. He has visited more than 50 other countries.

But now he has come home, or at least close to home. Born in Bloomsburg, DePaul spent some of his formative years in northeast Pennsylvania, where much of his extended family resides.

Licensed to practice law in Illinois and Texas, DePaul performed legal work for low-income families in the Lone Star State and plans to do the same in the Carlisle area. He played left wing for a professional soccer team’s farm club for two seasons in Guadalajara, Mexico, and already is a regular on the Kline Athletic Center basketball court, where he and other Dickinson faculty and staff engage in spirited afternoon workouts.

He enjoys American football (he’s a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets) and baseball (he likes the New York Yankees in part because when he lived in New York City, Yankee Stadium was where he saw his first big-league game) but describes himself as a “rabid” fan of World Cup soccer and the team from Italy, the Azzurri.

“There is not a sport I don’t play, except for curling,” DePaul said with a laugh.

DePaul, who began his role at Dickinson last month, previously served as director of global initiatives at the 15-campus University of Texas System, where he mapped out the system’s global footprint and identified problem areas and opportunities. He replaces former Executive Director and Associate Dean Brian Whalen, who recently was named president of the Dickinson-based Forum on Education Abroad.

Major global issues

DePaul knows his way around the global-education field. He serves on the editorial board of Frontiers: The International Journal of Study Abroad and is co-editor of the forthcoming book, The History of Study Abroad: 1965–Present.

From the financial crisis, which led to recession in the industrialized world, to ongoing environmental concerns, global education has never been as relevant as it is today, said DePaul, who added that the economic meltdown began in the United States and spread across borders, as do the pollutants from less-developed but rapidly growing countries.

“Pick any major challenge confronting the country,” he said. “From energy to the environment, from terrorism to trade, from drug interdiction to the importation of prescription drugs, from the financial crisis to climate change, it is difficult to imagine a full understanding of any of these complex problems, much less effective strategies for addressing them, without reference to a broader global perspective.

“Often our challenges in the U.S. are not ours alone; the global financial crisis is a good case in point,” he added. “What begins in one country or region ripples globally through our increasingly interconnected world. Confronting the major problems of the day involves investigating and evaluating comparative approaches and, in many cases, fashioning collaborative solutions to common challenges.”

Nuanced approach

DePaul said he wants to help Dickinson students select study-abroad programs “based on what their discipline and interests are.” And when those students return from abroad, he hopes they will participate in “re-entry programs” in which they can share their findings with other students who are considering study-abroad options.

As a world traveler, DePaul comes to Dickinson with the credentials and talent needed to lead the college through the many changes associated with a global economy and global education in the 21^st century, said President William G. Durden ’71.

“I think he is a terrific addition to our community,” Durden said. “He has the type of experience, personality and inclination for reflection and action that will permit the college to move to the next generation of achievement in global education.”