Marketing & Communications
Division of University Relations and Development
News Release
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Sempra Energy Sponsors
Baja California's Future CONTACT: Shelley Herron SAN DIEGO, May 19, 2004 -- Sempra Energy will sponsor an innovative program at San Diego State University to identify and support Baja California’s future business leaders. The International Business Leadership Program could sponsor as many as 43 students over a four-year period with grants from Sempra Energy that could total approximately $500,000 to help SDSU international business majors from Tijuana, Ensenada, Rosarito, Mexicali and Tecate pay for tuition, living expenses, books, a summer camp, mentors and internships. Seven students, one from Ensenada, one from Rosarito, one from Tecate and four from Tijuana, have been selected for this year’s program and were honored Thursday, May 20 at Sempra Energy Headquarters, 101 Ash St., San Diego. (A list of the students can be found at the end of this release). “This is an incredible gift that will help us prepare future business leaders in Baja California,” said Steven Sacco, chair of SDSU’s international business major. The students will be selected based on their academic qualifications, career goals and demonstrated leadership skills. A leader in transnational degree programs, SDSU offers MEXUS, in which students spend two years at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) or Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS) in Baja California and two years at SDSU. Since MEXUS was launched ten years ago, more programs have been added such as CaMexUS with schools in Mexico and Canada, and most recently a triple degree program with Mexico and Chile. “We were very impressed by MEXUS and want to provide opportunities for Baja California students who have exhibited leadership skills and an interest in international business, to benefit from this innovative program during their junior and senior years in college,” said Sempra Energy International President, George Liparidis. “Our partnership with SDSU reflects Sempra Energy’s support of future leaders of the region.” To ensure success, each Sempra Energy international scholar will be assigned two mentors, one who is an upper division international business student, and the other a graduate of SDSU’s international business program. Dean Gail Naughton of the SDSU College of Business said “this partnership is a great fit because Sempra Energy recently ranked among the top five on Fortune magazine's yearly list of America's 50 Best Companies for Minorities. We not only educate a diverse student body, but many of our students are the first in their families to attend college.” “This program will give more students the opportunity to earn this valuable degree,” added Paul Wong, dean of the SDSU College of Arts and Letters, which co-sponsors the international business major with SDSU’s College of Business. “The international business program’s success lies in the combination of rigorous language and regional studies courses offered by the College of Arts and Letters, balanced with essential business courses in a variety of disciplines offered by the College of Business,” he added. The international business major at SDSU enrolls
approximately 750 students and is among the largest undergraduate
programs of its kind in the country. Ranked #11 by U.S. News &
World Report, it operates under the auspices of SDSU’s Center
for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). The center
is currently funded in part by $1.5 million in grants from the U.S.
Department of Education. President of “DEITAC”, an organization in Tijuana dedicated to industrial development and promotion, Fernando Cervantes Condé and Jonathan Díaz Castro, director of the school-to-work committee of “CDEM”, the economic development chamber of Mexicali, are both looking forward to joining the scholarship award selection process. In addition, they’ll be selecting candidates to participate in a one-week summer international business camp, which will be held in 2005 at SDSU for 15 Baja California high school students. The students will take a one-week intensive class followed by a six-week paid internship position with a company working in the international arena. “During recent years, we’ve seen interest
in international studies increase, due to the effects of globalization,
around the world,” noted Frank Villalba, Director of Business
Studies at CETYS University. College students from Baja California who are interested in applying for SDSU’s International Business Leadership Program for their junior or senior years in college and students in “preparatoria” interested in applying for GlobalBiz 2005, should contact: Patricia Torgerson, academic coordinator, at ib@mail.sdsu.edu. More information on the International Business
Major at SDSU can be found at ### 2004 International Business Leadership Program
Scholars Name School These students are juniors in either the MEXUS or CaMexUS programs and are coming to SDSU to complete their coursework. # # # |
