We're excited to announce the recipients of our 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award, Professional Development Award, and Volunteer of the Year Award! The recipients received their awards on Thursday, October 4, at our Annual Conference Awards Dinner in Chicago.
The IES Abroad Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Dr. Larry Jones, Retired Director of Global Education at Sewanee: The University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee. Dr. Jones has served on or chaired 57 college or national committees, in addition to his extensive service to the field of study abroad. He has been a teacher for science-focused topics, such as genetics, plant physiology, botany, fungi, algae, and bryophytes, as well as introductory courses in cellular and molecular biology. He also taught biology and current topics in biology, as well as a Intercultural Explorations in Living Abroad course. He is equally productive as a researcher, having published a 3,100-page, six-volume set of books, Fruit of the Pocosin.
Dr. Jones has also played a very active role at IES Abroad, having served on our Annual Conference Planning Committee, the IES Abroad Nominations Committee, and as an institutional representative from the University of the South. He has participated in 10 site visits all over the world for IES Abroad, and co-chaired the IES Abroad-sponsored Symposium on Science and Study Abroad at the University of Durham. He was also awarded the IES Abroad Volunteer of the Year Award in 2013.
The IES Abroad Professional Development Award was given to Taylor Woodman, Manager of Advising Services at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Taylor’s experience and training have focused on international education policies, international higher education, and international business cultures. He has studied all over the world in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Stellenbosch, South Africa, as an undergrad. His professional experiences and research projects have taken him to the Dominican Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Ghana, Senegal, Israel, Jordan, Cuba, South Africa, and Brazil.
Taylor has also been an instructor in such topics as international investigations in Cuba and global service in the Dominican Republic. Additionally, Taylor has a clear dedication to inclusion and diversifying access to study abroad. This is evidenced by his work as chair of the Diversity Abroad Task Force for high-need students, his participation in the Selection Panel for the Gilman Scholarship, and his role as Co-Chair for the NAFSA Subcommittee for Underrepresentation in Education Abroad. Taylor has also been a reviewer for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) All-Star Students Program.
The IES Abroad Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Michael Jordan, Director of the Center for Global and Intercultural Study, at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has been committed to the field for close to 20 years. Michael spent 10 years as a professor of Spanish and Latin American literature in the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures at Lafayette College. During that time, he simultaneously directed five study abroad programs. Through his academic experience and passion for study abroad, he became the Director of the Office of International and Off-Campus Education at Lafayette College in 2008. Michael is now the Director of the Center for Global and Intercultural Study at the University of Michigan—a position he has held since 2012.
Michael is also active outside of University of Michigan campus as a member of NAFSA and The Forum. He has also been very active at IES Abroad, having served as Chair of the Institutional Membership Committee and is currently a member of the IES Abroad Academic Council.
IES Abroad presents these three prestigious leadership awards at its Annual Conference each year to recognize study abroad professionals’ substantial contributions and achievements to the field. Each award winner is an IES Abroad Consortium Member School.
