November 9, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Battenburg
Director of International Education and Programs
805-756-2945
Social Sciences Professor Receives International Educator Award
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Professor Harold R. Kerbo of the Social Sciences Department in the College of Liberal Arts is the recipient of the 2007 Cal Poly International Educator Award.
Kerbo will receive the award during the International Education Week Presentation, “Helping Students Understand International Careers,” on Thursday, Nov. 15, 7:30 to 9 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center Lobby. The event is free and open to all faculty and staff.
The annual honor, sponsored by International Education and Programs, recognizes a faculty member who has significantly contributed to international education at Cal Poly.
Kerbo has been a faculty member at Cal Poly since 1977 and has a distinguished record of teaching, service, and scholarship activities within international education. Founder of the Cal Poly Thailand Study Program, Kerbo has overseen approximately 350 students and 12 faculty members who have participated in the program since 1998. He has served as resident director, has taught in study program for many years, and has taken an active role in program development, faculty and student selection, advising, and logistics.
In addition, Kerbo has received Fulbright awards to teach and conduct research in Japan, Thailand, and Austria. He serves as a discipline reviewer for Fulbright applicants to European programs, and he has been visiting professor and visiting fellow at universities in Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Wales.
Focusing primarily on comparative societies and issues concerning world poverty, Kerbo’s research and publications include Comparative Societies Series (McGraw-Hill) and World Poverty: Global Inequalities and the Modern World System (2006). In collaboration with Professor John A. McKinstry, Kerbo has also co-authored Who Rules Japan? The Inner-Circles of Economic and Political Power (1995) and Modern Japan (1998). He has also co-authored Modern Germany (2000) and Modern Thailand (2000).
Reflecting on Kerbo’s contributions to international education and scholarship, President Warren Baker observed that Kerbo “is a leading advocate for global understanding who has created extraordinary opportunities for our students to participate in life-changing study-abroad experiences and, with his writings, has promoted greater understanding of comparative social and political realities around the world. This award is a fitting recognition of his many achievements through a long and distinguished career.”
For more information on International Education and Programs, the principal resource center for international education at Cal Poly, call 805-756-2945.
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