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Northwestern's global focus more important than ever

Expanding University’s world footprint central message of President’s 'Conversations'

EVANSTON - With Northwestern University in Qatar preparing to celebrate the grand opening of its stunning new building in Education City and Northwestern in San Francisco marking the successful launch of a new immersion program for journalism and engineering students, the University is well poised to expand its global footprint, Northwestern officials said Tuesday. 

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Northwestern’s satellite campuses and the University’s strategy to further strengthen global engagement was a key theme at this year’s Conversations with President Morton Schapiro, held on the Chicago and Evanston campuses April 12 and 18, respectively. 

“One of the proudest things that I’ve been part of in a decade in this office is the birth and growth of NU-Q,” Provost Daniel Linzer said Tuesday. “When you meet [our NU-Q] students and you see what they are prepared to do in changing the world, in changing the way the news and stories are told in the Middle East and across the world, it is incredibly inspiring.” 

“When you meet [our NU-Q] students and you see what they are prepared to do in changing the world...it is incredibly inspiring.” - Provost Daniel Linzer 

The President was joined at the event by a panel of top administrators, including Linzer, Executive Vice President Nim Chinniah, Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin and Vice President and General Counsel Philip Harris. Each expressed their commitment to staying the course and expanding Northwestern’s reach as a truly global educational enterprise. 

“We are a global university, and the need and the intention to continue to be one has not changed because of federal policy or who’s in the White House,” Chinniah said.

Chinniah pointed to the success of the Bay Area Immersion Experience, a new startup-inspired undergraduate program offered in the San Francisco space, as a possible model for continued expansion and implementation of recommendations made by the Global Strategy Task Force.

“We recently opened Northwestern, San Francisco, which is kind of a hub that Medill and McCormick are serving as anchors for,” Chinniah said. “It gives us a great presence in the Bay Area. That could very well be a type of physical model as we think about opening new sites across the globe.” 

Administrators are looking forward to the arrival of Northwestern’s new provost, dean of the Yale College Jonathan Holloway, who is expected to play a key leadership role in the University’s global strategy going forward.