February 5, 1999

Contact: Timothy McKernan, (619) 594-2588

 

New leadership for SDSU,s International Programs

 

San Diego State University, rapidly gaining a reputation as a center of international scholarship, has appointed Alan Sweedler as acting assistant vice president for International Programs. Sweedler is a noted international scholar who currently serves as co-director of SDSU,s Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution (IISCOR), as well as director of the University,s environmental science program. Sweedler, a professor of physics, said he would continue in both posts as well as teach and maintain his research interests while he guides SDSU,S International Programs into a new and expanded phase.

"Our goal is to secure the resources and create mechanisms to allow students to participate in international activities as part of their normal curriculum, Sweedler said.

"SDSU graduates will be able to leave here with a focused international experience as part of their degrees.

SDSU provost Nancy Marlin said building the international programs is a primary goal of the institution.

"We are indeed living in a global society, and expanding the international opportunities for our students and faculty is essential to maintaining academic quality, she said.

Sweedler,s credentials include helping to develop exchange programs between the University of Chile, the University of California and universities in Argentina, Venezuela and a similar program between the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and several universities in Latin America. He also has extensive experience in the Nordic-Baltic region of Europe and has been actively involved in SDSU,s many international comparative border programs.

Selected as one of two Congressional Science Fellows sponsored by the American Physical Society, he spent a year working in the U.S. Senate on issues relating to international security, energy and environment and U.S.-Mexico relations. He was awarded a Carnegie Foundation Fellowship to study and conduct research at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control. He is one of the founders of IISCOR and has also served as a visiting scholar at UCSD's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

Sweedler also serves on the board of directors of the San Diego Chapter of the World Affairs Council, the Policy Advisory Council of the California Energy Commission, and is vice-chair of the San Diego Regional Energy Office.

 

 

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