Expanding international efforts: Brenau establishes Miller Institute for Global Education

Brenau President Anne Skleder, Pete and Cathy Miller, and students

Brenau University has established the Miller Institute for Global Education to guide its internationalization plans that aim to increase students’ global awareness, an initiative key to the university’s mission and its strategic plan. The institute is funded by an estate gift from Pete Miller, who has been a Brenau trustee since 1998, and his wife, […]

Spring 2021: Internationalization

a line of people pointing at where they're from on globes.

Innovation in Education Brenau Board of Trustees Chair Mike Smithguided by an entrepreneurial spirit Skleder appoints Working Group on Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence President Skleder appoints Working Group onDiversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence ‘Our Shared Future’ Internationalization efforts preparing studentsfor the global world at our doorsteps Building bridges Rosi Ponce brings world of experience […]

International Spotlights: Grace Walker

Portrait of Grace Walker

As liaison for Chinese partnerships at Brenau, Grace Walker makes things happen. Among her myriad responsibilities in support of the university’s international relationships, Walker communicates with administrators and government representatives, arranges travel, assists in obtaining visas, organizes delegation visits, supports visiting scholars from China, and manages the daily operations and budget of Brenau’s China program. […]

International Spotlights: Eugene Williams

Dr. Eugene Williams, Dean, College of Education, poses for a portrait on Wednesday, June 8, 2016.(AJ Reynolds/Brenau University)

Eugene Williams knows a thing or two about being prepared. Prior to being named dean of the College of Education in 2016, Williams was instrumental in cultivating Brenau’s burgeoning collaborative education partnership with China’s Anhui Normal University. In 2015, he and Brenau colleague Bryan Sorohan traveled to China, where the two developed — and trained […]

International Spotlights: Sydney Hencil

Sydney Hencil

When it came time to decide which university to attend, Brenau junior Sydney Hencil knew she wanted to go somewhere outside her home country of Zimbabwe. When Hencil was younger, she was a member of the Rotary Youth Exchange program and spent time studying in Germany. Her parents wanted her to do the same after […]

International Spotlights: Mandy Bartell

Mandy Bartell

It’s been a long, strange trip for Mandy Bartell. Last January, the coordinator for Brenau’s Anhui Normal University partnership had just begun what was supposed to be a three-week visit to the Gainesville campus when officials in China — Bartell’s home since 2002 — announced the discovery of a new coronavirus. With so many uncertainties […]

Trustee Jill Mansfield says Brenau international experience ‘changed my life’

For Brenau University alumna and trustee Jill Mansfield, BU ’15, helping others is in her blood. Reflecting on the university’s mission, Mansfield says elements of “personal and professional fulfillment, intellectual accomplishment and global awareness” are echoed in her life experience and a family tradition of providing support. Some of Mansfield’s earliest memories include visiting the […]

International Spotlights: Robert Kiss-Mihaly

Nursing School Student Robert Kiss-Mihaly

When deciding where to attend nursing school, Robert Kiss-Mihaly was torn between continuing his education in Georgia or returning to his native Canada. Ultimately, Kiss-Mihaly decided to stay in Georgia, where he is now in his final year of the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Brenau University’s Norcross campus. Kiss-Mihaly says he […]

International Spotlights: Jordan Anderson

Jordan Anderson is Brenau University’s Director of International Students and Programs.

Jordan Anderson speaks many languages. In addition to her native English, the Brenau director of international initiatives counts among her linguistic repertoire Spanish, Japanese, German and Mandarin — the last of which has helped her form a special bond with the university’s Chinese students. While Anderson typically helps international students transition to Brenau through support […]

Advancing diversity and internationalization

Anne A. Skleder

In this edition of Brenau Window, you will read about two important initiatives — diversity, equity and inclusive excellence, and internationalization of our campuses — that are surfacing as part of our strategic planning efforts and the steps we are taking to address them. These two initiatives go hand in hand as they will help […]