Award for Global Engagement

Dr. Venugopal Mukku has demonstrated his commitment to internationalizing the University of Minnesota Crookston by collaborating with faculty in other countries, leading study abroad programs, and incorporating different cultural perspectives into his classrooms.

In the last five years, Dr. Mukku has secured more than $50,000 in funding to support Crookston students to study abroad. He also led one of the first faculty-led study abroad programs at the University of Minnesota Crookston, taking students to India in 2012.

As a researcher, Dr. Mukku has established new working relationships with chemistry faculty in Cameroon, Morocco, Nepal, India, Mali, and other countries. His work focuses on drug discovery, particularly in plants that have been used in traditional and indigenous medicines across a wide variety of cultures. Dr. Mukku conscientiously brings these different cultural perspectives into his classrooms and in his collaborations with other faculty members.

Dr. Mukku has also been committed to internationalizing campus for students who do not have the opportunity to study abroad. He has participated in the Internationalizing the Curriculum and Campus Conference and has become campus’s informal coordinator for ongoing internationalization efforts. One way Dr. Mukku brings global learning to students is by bringing international students to Crookston. He is hosting two Fulbright scholars in 2019-20.

Dr. Mukku has also worked with the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Programs to establish new initiatives celebrating global diversity, such as a celebration on Gandhi’s birthday to celebrate the International Day of Peace. For his efforts, Dr. Mukku has received Crookston’s Builders of Diversity Award.