KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 11, 2017

Binbin Jiang brings her decades-long passion for international education to Kennesaw State University’s Division of Global Affairs where on July 1 she began her new role as its first-ever executive director.

Jiang, who has been a professor of education at Kennesaw State for 13 years, most recently served as the Director of Global Engagement for the Bagwell College of Education and as the Director of Bagwell’s International Student Teaching program. Prior to joining Kennesaw State, Jiang held a variety of internationally focused positions in higher education, including serving as a Division Director in the Department of Foreign Languages at Northwestern University in China, and the Director of the International Language Institute at the University of the Incarnate World in San Antonio, Texas.

In total, Jiang has 27 years of experience developing international education programs and conducting international education research. Her work has taken her to Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda. She has also conducted English as a Foreign Language student teaching activities in South Korea for Kennesaw State.

As the DGA’s new executive director, Jiang will manage the Division’s daily operations and will oversee the operations of all DGA directors and support them in achieving the Division's shared mission and goals. Departments housed within the DGA include the Annual Country Study campus internationalization program, Business Operations, Center for African and African Diaspora Studies, Confucius Institute, Education Abroad Office, Global Operations and Risk Management, Intensive English Program, International Student and Scholar Services Office, KSU in Tuscany, and the President’s Emerging Global Scholars.

“The DGA is the center for global learning and engagement at KSU and is the central point for impacting students, faculty, and staff in this arena,” Jiang said. “This is where my passion, expertise, and aspirations can flourish more fully.”

Jiang will report to Kennesaw State’s Vice-Provost and Chief International Officer Dr. Lance Askildson.

Although Jiang officially joined the DGA on July 1, she has worked closely with the Division for many years. As the Director of Bagwell’s International Student Teaching program, she collaborated with the Education Abroad Office to send 91 undergraduate and graduate education students to schools around the world to gain teaching experience. During her three years with the IST program, Jiang established the University’s first student teaching programs in Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, launched a second program in Ecuador, and reinstated a previously closed program in Uganda. She also secured approval for a memorandum of understanding with the International School of Madrid in Spain to create Kennesaw State’s first IST experience in Europe, which will begin accepting KSU students as early as spring 2018.

In addition to collaborating with the Education Abroad Office, Jiang has helped guide the current direction of the Annual Country Study Program, one of the DGA’s flagship internationalization initiatives. Also referred to as the “Year Of” program, the ACSP selects a different country or region each academic year and develops a series of relevant academic courses, guest lectures, and cultural events.

Jiang became the chair of the ACSP Faculty Advisory Board in fall 2015. Comprised of representatives from six academic colleges, the board conducted an 18-month review of the ACSP and developed a new model that gives the colleges greater ownership over ACSP program development. This new model premieres with the 2017-2018 Year of India.

In Fall 2014, Jiang worked with the Confucius Institute on a successful joint application to the Confucius China Studies Program to bring renowned Chinese scholar Dr. Xiangming Chen from Peking University to co-teach a doctoral class and offer several lectures to faculty at Kennesaw State.

These accomplishments demonstrate that Jiang has been actively helping the DGA achieve its goals long before she had the opportunity to join the team directly.

“I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity to join the Division of Global Affairs,” she said. “I have worked so closely with many people in the DGA that if feels like coming home.”

Internationalization has been a major theme throughout Jiang’s career for nearly three decades. While at UIW, she designed the Intensive English curriculum for the university’s branch campus in China and developed a graduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Later, she directed a Fulbright program that took 12 university teachers from Texas to China for four weeks of intensive academic travel. In addition, she has served on the editorial boards of nine international journals, the boards of directors of five international organizations, and as the editor-in chief of a peer-reviewed online international journal.

Jiang sees her role as new executive director of the DGA as a chance to continue her lifelong passion for inspiring students and educators to embrace internationalization.

“My own international education and engagement experiences over the last three decades have transformed me into a globally-minded educator, researcher, and leader,” she said. “It is my strongest passion and desire to promote such opportunities for KSU students, faculty, staff, and our domestic and global communities.”

-Patrick Harbin