In Brief: Summer 2016

Sightings

›› Diplomats from the United States and Russia—including U.S. Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov— met at the Institute in April for a workshop focused on tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The workshop was cohosted by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and its Russian partner, the Center for Energy and Security Studies, and convened by CNS founder/ director William Potter. Participants included Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, and California Governor Jerry Brown. “I believe this dialogue contributed to a better understanding of the nuclear and security challenges on the Korean Peninsula,” said Potter. “It also demonstrated that nonproliferation is an area in which the United States and Russian share significant common interests.”

›› Ten students traveled to Bhutan over spring break to engage with community leaders and local citizens and experience firsthand the Himalayan nation’s commitment to a political philosophy based on “Gross National Happiness.” Students spent nine days in country on the trip, which was organized by Professor Jan Black and staff member Carolyn Taylor Meyer MAIPS ‘05 in partnership with the Royal Thimpu College of Bhutan. Students enjoyed lectures organized by community leaders before traveling to the remote Phobjikha Valley, where they stayed with local farmers. On their last day, the group hiked to the famous Tiger’s Nest, a monastery perched high up on a cliff. Each student subsequently completed an individual research project tailored to fit their degree program.

›› Students and faculty discussed the ocean and fishery protection provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Congressman Sam Farr at an invitation-only February 16 roundtable. Hosted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute at its Moss Landing headquarters, the event included Ambassador Froman, Congressman Farr, local business and environmental leaders, aquarium staff, and two faculty members and three students from the Middlebury Institute: Dr. Michael McGinnis of the International Environmental Policy program and the Center for the Blue Economy, Dr. Robert Rogowsky, chair of the International Trade and Economic Policy program, and students Chris Watson MAITED ’16, Sorina Seeley MAIEP ’17, and Shaun Richards MAIEP ’17.

 

Presentations

›› Longtime faculty member and Institute TESOL program founder Kathi Bailey was inaugurated as the president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) at its annual conference in March. Conference presenters included numerous Institute faculty members and more than 30 alumni who have gone on to earn their PhDs. “It was inspirational and heartwarming to hear TESOL alumni describe attending MIIS as one of their most significant educational and professional experiences,” said Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education Dean Renée Jourdenais, who also gave a plenary address.

›› Dr. George Moore, scientist in residence at CNS, chaired the opening day of Interpol’s Global Counter Nuclear Smuggling Conference in Lyon, France, on January 27. The conference involved representatives from more than 120 countries and was held as part of Interpol’s preparation for the final Nuclear Security Summit in March. The latter meeting in Washington, D.C., was attended by CNS experts including Director William Potter, Deputy Director Elena Sokova, Senior Fellow Miles Pomper, Eurasia Nonproliferation Program Director Bryan Lee, Senior Program Manager Margarita Sevcik, Scientist in Residence Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, Senior Research Associate Chen Kane, as well as Moore.

›› Students Bo Kim MANPTS ’16, Nick Lambson MATLM ’16, Carly Laywell MANPTS ’16, and Jeremy Borgia MBA/ MAIPD ’16 represented the Institute at the Cyber 9/12 competition organized by the Atlantic Council and hosted by American University in Washington, D.C. in March. Professor Philipp Bleek and Executive Director for Research Centers and Initiatives Amy Sands served as coaches for the team. While they didn’t advance to the finals, the students enjoyed the competition and took advantage of the networking and educational opportunities.

›› Professor Bleek also traveled to Atlanta for the annual convention of the International Studies Association, where he presented two papers coauthored with students. Zak Kallenborn MANPTS ’15 joined Bleek to present a paper initiated from a memo Zak wrote for Bleek’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Terrorism seminar. Bleek presented a chapter coauthored with Nick Kramer MANPTS ’15 on a related topic.

 

Awards and Achievements

›› On February 6, the Monterey County Business Council recognized the Institute for its significant contribution to the economic health of the region with its 2016 Economic Vitality Award in the category of Higher Education and Research. Accepting the award, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson noted, “While many of our students, faculty, and staff live, eat, and shop in downtown Monterey, the ripples of their community involvement extend much farther out into the county.”

›› Three students—Maren Farnum MAIEP ’15, Jessica Morten MAIEP ’15, and Melis Okter MAIEP ’16—were among 21 recipients of the California Sea Grant Fellowship in 2016. The fellowships, awarded annually, offer graduate students and recent graduates the opportunity to obtain job experience at a host agency in California involved with marine policy, environmental quality, and resource management.

›› Five alumni are currently representing the Institute in the U.S. State Department English Language Fellows program (ELF). ELF places qualified U.S. educators with graduate degrees in Teaching Foreign Language (TFL), Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), or Applied Linguistics in projects around the world designed to support English language learning. “Being selected for this program is one of the most prestigious positions you can achieve,” says Professor Kathi Bailey. The five fellows are Alicia Brill MATESOL ’13, Tylie Cramer MAIEM/MATESOL ’15, Patrick Gaebler MATESOL ’12, Lisa Weiss MATESOL ’15, and Maggie Steingraeber MATESOL ’12.

›› A student team from the Institute won second place and a $5,000 cash award in The Economist‘s 2016 Which MBA? case competition. Another Institute team won the competition last year. The 2016 team consisted of Michael Mahoney MBA ’16, Hesham Alsaati MBA/MAIEP ’17, and Thomas Gilmore MBA/MAIEP ’17.

›› A student team comprised of Patty Viafara MBA ’18, Clover Van Steenberghe MBA ’16, and Angelina Skowronski MBA/MAIEP ’16, received honorable mention in the Aspen Institute’s 2016 Business & Society International MBA Case Competition, placing them in the top 10 of a group of 25 business schools from around the world.

›› Professor Fredric Kropp has been named a Fulbright Scholar, receiving grant support to spend spring 2017 at Dublin City University. Kropp’s project, titled “Understanding Motivations, Attitudes and Behaviors of Social Entrepreneurs in Ireland,” is the continuation of a research agenda for which he had work published in the Journal of Small Business and Management and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development.

›› Visiting Professor Rufus Yerxa was named the new president of the National Foreign Trade Council in Washington, D.C. Yerxa previously served as a deputy U.S. trade representative i and served for years as deputy director general of the World Trade Organization.

›› Thomas Gray MANTPS ’15 is beginning a two-year National Nuclear Security Administration fellowship to work as a junior professional officer with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He is the first person to receive the highly competitive fellowship created to honor Dr. Ian Hutcheon, a former researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

›› University of New Mexico Assistant Professor of English Cristyn Elder MATESOL ’00 was elected by the members of the Council of Writing Program Administrators to the organization’s executive board. Elder will begin a three-year term on July 1.

›› “Fish Cubed” was the title of a proposal developed by six current students and one alumna that won “Best Startup Idea” at the Salinas Ag Tech Summit in April. “Fish Cubed,” which involves using aquaponics and aeroponics to produce fresh produce and proteins using very little energy and water, evolved from a student project for a new course called “Green Business Feasibility Assessment.” It’s the brainchild of Alex Kalish MAIEP ’19, Kenji Tabery MAIEP ’16, Janna Ratzlaff MAIEP ’15, Sophia Eva Longas BAIS ’17, Hesham Al-Saati MBA/MAIEP ’17, Jessica Anderson MBA ’17, and Rebekah Anne Cordell MBA/MAIEP ’17.

›› At the 6th Cross-Strait Interpreting Contest in Taiwan, Jingxin Lin MATI ’16 received first prize and Vanessa Cao MACI ’16 received third prize. This is the fourth consecutive time that Institute students placed in this highly competitive contest, which attracts student competitors from many of the world’s major Chinese translation and interpretation programs. The students were accompanied by their coach, Professor Jui-Ching (Wallace) Chen MATI ’95.

Collaborations

›› A new partnership between the Middlebury Institute and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (better known by its Russian acronym MGIMO) offers students the opportunity to earn both a Master’s in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from MIIS and a Master’s in International Affairs from MGIMO. Students spend their first semester in Moscow, followed by two semesters in Monterey. All subject-matter classes in both locations are taught in English, though most students also study a second language. The final semester is devoted to a professional internship.

›› In March, 70 students from the Middlebury Institute, California State University Monterey Bay, the Naval Postgraduate School, UC Berkeley, and Stanford convened at MIIS for the International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise. The exercise was developed by 

faculty and staff of the Army War College and organized by Lt. Col. Chris Wendland, currently serving as an Army War College Fellow at the Institute. It was designed to simulate an internationally sanctioned peace conference called to break the long-standing conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan over the contested Jammu-Kashmir region.

›› Professor Barry Slaughter Olsen MACI ’99 let us know that in February, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies conducted a conference call in six languages (Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish) to discuss efforts to combat the Zika virus. The call used a ZipDX Multilingual platform that Olsen helped design to connect simultaneous interpreters remotely from all over Europe. “The call had participants from 45 different countries on six continents, and the technology helped them address a pressing world health crisis in a timely manner in multiple languages,” said Olsen.

›› Mateo Rutherford MATI ’03 and Karin Ruschke MAT ’95 participated as subject matter experts (SME) on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreting Job Task Analysis from January through April 2016. The panel includes a diverse group of medical-interpreting SMEs covering a broad range of interpreting modes, settings, and languages.

›› The Institute’s first Tyler Distinguished Scholar in Residence was Randel Carlock, ENSEAD’s Senior Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, who visited Monterey from March 29 through April 11 and delivered three public lectures designed to help develop ideas about how MIIS can incorporate family business entrepreneurship into its curriculum. This new program is designed to bring outstanding academics from other institutions to the Institute for brief, focused visits.

›› The annual Critical Issues Forum hosted by CNS offers high school students from around the world the opportunity to participate in a conference on nuclear nonproliferation issues. Students from seven American high schools, six Japanese high schools, and three Russian high schools gathered at the Santa Catalina School in Monterey in April to discuss nuclear security issues and hear from experts, including former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry. “It’s a ground-breaking program just for high school students,” said Program Manager Masako Toki MAIPS ’00.

 

Publications

›› Science and Sensibility: Negotiating an Ecology of Place, by Professor Michael Vincent McGinnis of the International Economic Policy program, addresses the need for ecology to engage with philosophical values and economic motivations in a process of negotiation. Case studies from watershed, coastal, and marine habitats help illustrate how place-based ecological negotiation can occur and how reframing our negotiation process can influence conservation and environmental policy in effective ways.

 

Passages

›› Robert West “Bob” Lundeen, former chairman of the Institute Board of Trustees and longtime supporter of the Institute, passed away at his home in Orcas Island, Washington, on April 13. He was 94 years old. Lundeen and his late wife Betty touched the lives of many Institute faculty through the Robert and Betty Lundeen Junior Faculty Development Fund they established in 1998. At the time, he said, “It is an ongoing challenge for any college or university to provide resources for junior faculty who are in the early years of their careers, and who may need ‘bridging’ support to finance special research projects, attendance at scholarly meetings, time off from regular teaching assignments, and similar responsibilities. By establishing this fund, we hope to provide a portion of those needed resources.” Lundeen received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Institute in 1992, and in 1999, the Institute named him as its Distinguished Honoree on National Philanthropy Day.