Global Partner Day 2016

Global partners representing 12 universities in 7 countries will make their way to Tucson on May 27, 2016 for the second annual Arizona Global Partner Day.

The UA Office of Global Initiatives is hosting Global Partner Day to provide international partners the chance to learn more about the UA and identify potential opportunities for research collaborations, student mobility ventures, language learning programs and more.

Mike Proctor, vice president for Global Initiatives at the UA, said Global Partner Day was organized to take advantage of visits already planned by representative attending the NAFSA Association of International Educators Conference, a major worldwide international education conference happening the following week in Denver. On Thursday and Friday, Global Partner Day participants will tour the UA campus and attend presentations on global partnerships, UA research and potential collaboration opportunities.

“Global Partner Day was created in order to provide an opportunity for representatives from partner institutions to visit the campus and learn more about the opportunities and resources that exist here,” said Dale LaFleur, director of institutional relations in the Office of Global Initiatives.

Outcomes of the previous partner day event in 2014 include the formalization of new partnerships with the Australian National University, which developed out of collaboration in Astronomy and the Native Nations Institute in the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, and Seoul National University that stems from existing collaboration in Engineering. Representatives from existing partners also had an opportunity to explore new possibilities for collaboration, tour some of the UA’s renowned research labs and see new residence halls. 

For this year’s Partner Day, Dr. Bashar Rizk, OCAMS Instrument Scientist at Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the UA, will give the Global Partner Day plenary talk on May 27th in the Environment and Natural Resources 2 Building located in the Haury Lecture Hall from 9-9:45am in room S107. His presentation is titled “International Space Collaboration in the post-Cassini Era: OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa and the study of near-Earth Asteroids.”

Bashar Rizk is an OCAMS Instrument senior staff scientist at Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona since July 2013. Rizk is also an OCAMS scientist for OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission, and has worked there for 10 years.

Rizk’s talk is open to the public, although seating is limited. Those interested in attending should sign up here to ensure a spot at the presentation.