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Advancing the Goals of Sustainable Development Through Internationalization

Description

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals serve as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of all global citizens. These Goals were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Since 2015, these global goals for sustainable development have been translated and embedded into the strategic direction of institutions at national and local levels. Through research, teaching and community engagement, education institutions have a critical role to play in advancing the goals of sustainable development.

As the global community continues to grapple with the current crisis created by the novel coronavirus and the growing cleavages and inequalities across and within nation-states, the role of education institutions in helping to make a difference in their societies across all dimensions of life and community is vitally important. How can our institutions use the SDG framework to drive and deepen these efforts? More specifically, how can international education leaders and practitioners within our institutions serve to advance the goals of sustainable development through their internationalization efforts?

We invite you to join a group of Canadian and international experts to exchange ideas and experiences on the role that the international education sector can and should be playing in advancing the goals of sustainable development, and in helping to make a difference in the quality of life in our societies at local and global levels.

This sustainable development panel will kickoff with a keynote address by Stephen Lewis, Canada’s former Ambassador to the United Nations and former Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on HIV/AIDS, followed by a moderated discussion.

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Contributors (in alphabetic order)

Don BureauxDon Bureaux

President, Nova Scotia Community College

Biography

Don Bureaux has been president of Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) since 2011. Don’s commitment to adult education spans over two decades working with adult learners at colleges and universities as well as professional designation granting organizations across Canada and internationally. At NSCC, he works to bring the college’s vision – transforming Nova Scotia one learner at a time – to life. Before becoming president of NSCC, Don served as vice-president, academic and vice president, people and planning at the college, and has served in many academic leadership roles throughout his career. His work has allowed him to collaborate with educational leaders across North America, Europe and Asia in creating entrepreneurial learning environments that are connecting to communities and industries. Don holds a certificate in Adult Education and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Acadia University and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. Don is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant and holds an international designation as a Certified Business Counsellor through the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He’s been granted his Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA) designation by CPA Canada and his Fellow Certified General Accountant (FCGA) designation by CGA Canada. Don has been recognized as one of The Top 50 CEOs by Atlantic Business Magazine for five consecutive years (2015-2019) and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019. Don serves on the boards of many not-for-profit organizations in Nova Scotia.

Ángel CabreraÁngel Cabrera

President, Georgia Institute of Technology

Biography

On Sept. 1, 2019, Ángel Cabrera became the 12th president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Cabrera came to Georgia Tech after serving for seven years as president of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

A top-10 public research university in the U.S., Georgia Tech has outstanding programs in business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and the sciences. With 40,000 students and more than 170,000 living alumni who work in business, industry, and government throughout the world, Georgia Tech has become internationally recognized for the quality of its educational and research programs.

Under his leadership for the past year thousands of members of the Georgia Tech community have contributed to a new 10-year strategic plan to be launched fall 2020. The plan is grounded on a new mission statement that reaffirms Tech’s commitment to “developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.”

As a business educator, Cabrera has played a key role in advancing professional ethics, internationalization, and corporate social responsibility. As a senior advisor to the United Nations Global Compact, in 2007 he was the lead author of the “Principles for Responsible Management Education,” now adopted by more than 700 schools around the world. He is also a co-founder of the University Global Coalition, a global network of universities working in partnership with the United Nations in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Cabrera earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Georgia Tech, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar. He also holds a telecommunications engineering degree (B.S. and M.S. in computer and electrical engineering) from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. He has published extensively in academic journals and has been featured or quoted in leading media around the world. Cabrera is the first native of Spain to serve as president of an American university.

Joy JohnsonJoy Johnson

President and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University

Biography

Joy Johnson is president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University, and professor in its Faculty of Health Sciences.

As president, Joy is committed to enhancing student learning experiences, working towards Indigenous reconciliation, and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion across the university.

Prior to her appointment as president, Joy served as SFU’s vice-president, research and international from 2014 to 2020 where she oversaw the evolution of cutting-edge research, innovation, and international engagement across eight faculties. Under her leadership, SFU’s research income grew from $103 million in 2014 to $161 million in 2020 – the fastest growth of any Canadian university. Other major accomplishments include the launch of a groundbreaking big data initiative, hosting one of Canada’s largest supercomputers and establishing a university-wide innovation strategy.

Prior to SFU, Joy had a distinguished career in academics and research. She completed her PhD in nursing at the University of Alberta, and joined the University of British Columbia as a professor in the School of Nursing. Her commitment to research led her to the role of scientific director with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, where she is credited for shaping the Canadian research landscape to ensure gender is considered in health research.

Joy is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and has co-authored more than 180 peer-reviewed articles.

Stephen LewisStephen Lewis

Former Canadian Ambassador to the UN and UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS

Biography

Stephen Lewis is one of Canada’s most influential commentators on social affairs, international development and human rights. He has been named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Mr. Lewis is a Professor of Practice in Global Governance at the Institute for the Study of International Development at McGill University and a Professor of Distinction at Ryerson University in Toronto.  He serves as the board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which is dedicated to turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and he is the co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization.

Mr. Lewis is a Senior Fellow of the Enough Project.  He is an immediate past member of the Board of Directors of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and Emeritus Board Member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

He served as a Commissioner on the Global Commission on HIV & the Law and in 2015 was appointed to the Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health. Stephen Lewis’ work with the United Nations spanned more than two decades.  He was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from June 2001 until the end of 2006.

From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Lewis was Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF. In 1997 he was appointed by the Organization of African Unity to a Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the Genocide in Rwanda.

In 1993, Mr. Lewis became coordinator for the international study—known as the Graça Machel study—on the “Consequences of Armed Conflict on Children.” The report was tabled in the United Nations in 1996. From 1984 through 1988, Stephen Lewis was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. In this capacity, he chaired the Committee that drafted the Five-Year UN Programme on African Economic Recovery. He also chaired the first International Conference on Climate Change, in 1988, which drew up the first comprehensive policy on global warming.

From 1970-1978, Mr. Lewis was leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, during which time he became leader of the Official Opposition.

In 2007, King Letsie III, monarch of the Kingdom of Lesotho invested Mr. Lewis as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe.  The order is named for the founder of Lesotho; the knighthood is the country’s highest honour.

Santa OnoSanta Ono

President and Vice-Chancellor, University of British Columbia

Biography

Santa J. Ono PhD FRSC FCAHS is the 15th President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia.

Installed as President and Vice-Chancellor in 2016, he also serves as Chair of the U15 Group of Universities, on the Board of Directors of Universities Canada, and as Past Chair of Research Universities of British Columbia. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Keio University and the Boards of Fulbright and MITACS. He has also served on the Boards of the American Council on Education and the Council on Competitiveness and as Chief Innovation Advisor to the Province of British Columbia.

Prior to his appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC, Dr. Ono served as the 28th President of the University of Cincinnati and Senior Vice-Provost and Deputy to the Provost at Emory University.

He was appointed by Governor John Kasich to lead Ohio’s Biopharmaceutical Task Force and to the Board of the Ohio Third Frontier – Ohio’s technology-based economic development program, when he served as President of the University of Cincinnati.

A molecular immunologist educated at the University of Chicago and McGill, Dr. Ono has taught at Johns Hopkins, Harvard University and University College London. He has advised national and regional governments on higher education and mental health. He has also advised companies such as GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Novartis on R&D.

He has served on a number of editorial boards, including Immunology, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, The Journal of Immunology and The Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

Dr. Ono has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, USA and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.

He holds Honorary Doctorates from Chiba University and the Vancouver School of Theology and is a recipient of the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award from the American Council on Education, the Professional Achievement Award from University of Chicago, a Grand Challenges Hero Award from UCLA and the NAAAP 100 Award from the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

Mamokgethi PhakengMamokgethi Phakeng

Vice-Chancellor, University of Cape Town

Biography

Mamokgethi Phakeng (formerly Setati) began her term of office as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town on 1 July 2018, where she had been serving as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation since January 2017. Previous to this appointment she served as Vice Principal for Research and Innovation at the University of South Africa (Unisa) for five years, after serving three years as Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at the same university. She holds a PhD in Mathematics Education from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a highly regarded B1 NRF-rated scientist with over 80 research papers and five edited volumes published.  She has been invited to deliver over 40 keynote/plenary talks at international conferences, and as a visiting professor in universities around the world (in Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Senegal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA). She has won numerous awards for her research and community work, including the Order of the Baobab (Silver) conferred on her by the President of South Africa in April 2016. In August 2014 CEO magazine named her the most influential woman academic in Africa and in August 2016 she was awarded the prestigious Businesswoman of the Year Award in the education category. In July 2019 the University of Bristol conferred on her an Honorary Doctorate in Science in recognition of her leadership role in mathematics education in South Africa.

Kgethi, as she is popularly known, was elected as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) in November 2007; an honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society in May 2009, an honorary life member of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa (AMESA) in July 2009 and a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 2018. In 2008 she became the first black South African researcher to be appointed to co-chair a study commissioned by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. The study entitled “mathematics and language diversity” has completed its work and published a volume in 2016, which she co-edited.

She is a member of the board of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG); a trustee of the FirstRand Foundation; the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (SASSFE) and the Pearson Marang Education Trust (PMET). In 2016 she was appointed by the then Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, to chair the Human Resource Development Council standing committee on Mathematics and Science Education. She served as member of the board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and chaired its Research Development and Innovation Committee from January 2015 till September 2017. She was elected in 2011 as the first woman President of the Convocation of the University of the Witwatersrand and served for five years till 2016. She led the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa (AMESA) as its first woman National President from 2002 to 2006, served as founding chairperson of the Board of the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) from 2004 to 2006 and secretary and member of the executive committee of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) from 2003 to 2007.

Kgethi is founder of the Adopt-a-learner Foundation (www.adopt-a-learner.com), a non-profit organisation that started in 2004 and provides financial and educational support to students from township and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications.

Reeta RoyReeta Roy

President and CEO, Mastercard Foundation

Biography

A thoughtful leader and advocate for the world’s most vulnerable, Reeta has worked tirelessly to build a foundation that is collaborative and known for its lasting impact. During Reeta’s tenure, Mastercard Foundation has committed over US$2.6 billion to education, skills training and financial inclusion programs, primarily in Africa. Those programs have reached 38 million people living in poverty, helping them improve their lives and the circumstances of their families and communities.

Reeta is a member of the African Transformation Leadership Panel and is regularly called upon by the United Nations and regional bodies in Africa such as the African Center for Economic Transformation to advocate solutions for youth employment. Prior to joining the Foundation, Reeta was the Divisional Vice President of Global Citizenship and Policy at Abbott and was Vice President of the Abbott Fund, its corporate foundation.

A strong believer in listening, Reeta particularly enjoys being in the field, working directly with those the Foundation serves. Reeta’s childhood growing up in Malaysia helped her to develop her capacity to listen and the empathy with which she approaches the Foundation’s work. Reeta was a beneficiary of scholarships that allowed her to complete her education and mentors continue to support her growth as a leader.

Moderator

Janaka RuwanpuraJanaka Ruwanpura

Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Research (International), University of Calgary

Biography

Janaka Ruwanpura is the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Research (International) at the University of Calgary, Canada. He is also the current elected Executive Chair of the Commission of International Initiatives of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) as the first Canadian and Non-American to chair any of the councils and commissions of APLU. He was a full professor, Canada Research Chair in Project Management Systems and a founding director of the Centre for Project Management in the Schulich School of Engineering. Dr. Ruwanpura earned a BSc (honors) from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, an MSc in construction management from Arizona State University, and a PhD in construction engineering and management from University of Alberta. He has been recognized with many national and international awards for teaching, research, innovation, leadership, service, distinguished alumni, graduate education and internationalization. He has brought new international initiatives to the University of Calgary including developing and implementing collaborative degree models, co-developing Global Research Initiatives and Sites and raising funding for research and infrastructure, establishing and promoting new research partnerships in number of countries and lobbying for international development grants. Because of these initiatives the University of Calgary won 6 competitive excellence and innovation awards from various organizations such as CBIE, APLU and the Association of International Educators and Administrators (AIEA). In 2020 he was recognized with the International Achievement Award from the City of Calgary. Dr. Ruwanpura is a licensed professional engineer in Alberta, a professional quantity surveyor in Canada and a chartered member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.