September 25, 2017

Colleagues,

It is my great pleasure to let you know that Dennis Galvan, vice provost for international affairs, has accepted my request to serve as the interim dean of undergraduate studies, while also continuing in his current role in international affairs.

Many of you already know Dennis and the incredible work he does to not only bring international students to campus, but to also make them feel welcome and help them be successful. What you may not know is that Dennis’ work has also had a significant impact on all undergraduate students.

Dennis oversees study abroad operations, which provides more than 1,200 students a year with transformative global education experiences. Additionally, he helped launch our rapidly growing international internship service GlobalWorks, and through fundraising, brought in $4.5 million to support undergraduate international experiences.

In the last year, Dennis spearheaded the creation of the Global Bridge iFIG, a first-year curriculum linking general education, close advising, and English language booster courses for international students with low TOEFL scores. This initiative builds upon his work on the academic residential community in the Global Scholars Hall, which now draws first-year students to the intersection of language learning, study abroad.

Dennis has developed key relationships with international institutions and donors to create great opportunities for our students. As a professor of political science and international studies, Dennis has the respect of the faculty and his peers. He has produced award-winning scholarship on international development, earning along the way a Fulbright Research Fellowship as well as a Thomas F. Herman Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dennis received his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, and his bachelor’s in international relations from Stanford University in 1987.

Please join me in welcoming Dennis Galvan to the undergraduate studies team.

Sincerely,

Jayanth Banavar
Provost and Senior Vice President