Celebrating success: meet the 2018 EAIE Award winners

Internationalisation in today’s world – a world both increasingly global and increasingly sceptical of globalisation – demands loud and proud celebration of our successes as international educators. Thus it is our pleasure to present these seven individuals, institutions and groups with the 2018 EAIE Awards in recognition of their exceptional dedication to and innovation in the internationalisation of higher education.

Institutional Award for Innovation in Internationalisation

The Institutional Award for Innovation in Internationalisation recognises a European Institution for its exceptional efforts to promote internationalisation. This year, the EAIE Awards and Talent Committee shortlisted three universities for this recognition: the Anglo-American University, Czech Republic; Bournemouth University, UK; and University of Mannheim , Germany. Each of them has a unique profile and has worked on their internationalisation strategy in a different way. They will present their recipes for success during a joint session at EAIE Geneva 2018, and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, 11 September. Start guessing and stay tuned!

Constance Meldrum Award for Vision and Leadership

We are delighted to present this year’s Constance Meldrum Award to Michael Ignatieff, President and Rector of the Central European University, Hungary. An international commentator on contemporary issues of democracy, human rights and governance, Ignatieff is also an award-winning writer, teacher, former politician, and historian with a deep knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe. He served as Edward R. Murrow Chair of Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In today’s times, as the field of international higher education is increasingly dealing with the consequences of the rise of populism, the EAIE recognises Michael’s outstanding contributions to defending academic freedom.

Tony Adams Award for Excellence in Research

We are honoured to present the Tony Adams Award for Excellence in Research to Ellen Hazelkorn, a pioneering researcher and thought leader in the area of global university rankings. Ellen has worked as a higher education policy consultant and specialist with international organisations and governments for over 15 years, and regularly undertakes strategic and research evaluations and peer review assessments for governments, research councils and universities around the world. This year, the EAIE recognises her contributions to the field in the form of her outstanding work on the rise of international university rankings.

Transatlantic Leadership Award

The Transatlantic Leadership Award goes to Thomas Buntru, Dean of International Programs at University of Monterrey (UDEM). Under his leadership, UDEM has become the Mexican university with the highest student participation rate in study abroad programmes. This award recognises Thomas’s dedicated work in building bridges between Mexican and European higher education institutions over the past 30 years.

Bo Gregersen Award for Best Practice

MILSA Group is this year’s winner of the Bo Gregersen Award. Based in the cooperation between the University of Bern and the University of Technology Sydney, MILSA is a comprehensive academic mentoring programme that leads the way in facilitating students’ intercultural learning. The Bo Gregersen Award highlights MILSA Group’s work as an example of best practice in international team cooperation.

Rising Star Award

This year’s Rising Star is Tanja Reiffenrath, a committed colleague whose contributions across the EAIE’s activities have consistently helped us to advance internationalisation and support professionals working in the field. Tanja works as Project Coordinator of Internationalisation of the Curricula at the University of Goettingen, and became involved with the EAIE in 2016 as an Associate in the Expert Community Internationalisation at Home. Her excellent work as a volunteer led to her election as Chair of the same Expert Community last April.

President’s Award

In honour of his remarkable service over the years, the EAIE President Markus Laitinen has named Jos Beelen as this year’s President’s Award winner. Jos is committed to driving internationalisation at home (IaH), and has played a key role in developing and establishing the field. Jos is currently a member of the EAIE Publications Committee, an EAIE trainer and a speaker at the upcoming EAIE Spotlight Seminar, ‘Internationalisation at home: global perspectives for all students’.

Congratulations to the 2018 EAIE Award winners, and thank you to all those who took the time to nominate your peers! We look forward to honouring their achievements at the 30th Annual EAIE Conference in Geneva.