2025 Recipients of University-wide Internationalization Awards

The Global Programs and Strategy Alliance has announced the recipients of the 2025 Award for Global Engagement and Innovative International Initiatives Award. 

The awards recognize faculty and staff members who made contributions to global education, international programming, or the internationalization of the University of Minnesota. Recipients will be honored at a ceremony in the fall.

Award for Global Engagement

The all-University Award for Global Engagement is given to faculty and staff members in recognition of outstanding contributions to global education and international programs at the University or in their field or discipline. Recipients of the 2025 award are:

Robert Blanchette

Professor of Plant Pathology; College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (Twin Cities)

Dr. Blanchette is recognized as an international leader in the fields of forest pathology and wood microbiology.

Katy Chapman

Professor & Director of Sustainability; Math, Science & Technology (Crookston)

Dr. Chapman is a distinguished scholar and educator with a profound commitment to international education.

Philip Pardey

Professor, Applied Economics; College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (Twin Cities)

Dr. Pardey's career exemplifies the “slow magic” of agricultural innovation that he has championed throughout his professional life.

Catherine Solheim

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Family Social Science, College of Education and Human Development, Twin Cities

Dr. Solheim is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, enacting those values through conducting research that benefits immigrant and refugee communities, leading study abroad courses to develop students’ cultural humility and sense of global citizenship, and serving in the community.

C. Eugene Allen Award for Innovative International Initiatives (III)

Through the C. Eugene Allen Award for Innovative International Initiatives (III Award), the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance recognizes faculty and staff for their contributions to further the internationalization of the University of Minnesota. The 2025 recipient is:

Paul Strykowski

George W. Taylor Distinguished Professor, Mechanical Engineering; College of Science and Engineering (Twin Cities)

Dr. Strykowski co-created Design for Life: Water in Tanzania, a faculty-led study abroad program that blended aspects of the student organization Engineers Without Borders with the academic rigor of an engineering design course.