Vice Provost Returning to DU Faculty

From: Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Jeremy Haefner

Colleagues,

It is with mixed emotions that I share the news that Dr. Luc Beaudoin has decided to return to the University’s faculty and transition from his role as Vice Provost for Internationalization, effective Aug. 31, 2019. On the one hand, I am pleased for his opportunity to return to his scholarship and teaching. Yet I will miss the leadership he has demonstrated as vice provost, his keen contributions to the international aspirations for DU, his sense of humor, and his commitment to the students.

Under Dr. Beaudoin’s leadership, the Office of Internationalization has made significant advancements for the University including the creation of strategic partnerships with flagship universities such as the University of Lund in Lund, Sweden, the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, as well as priority partnerships with other leading institutions around the globe. These partnerships have grown to include new options for students in highly-sequenced courses of study such as engineering, innovative international bachelor’s and master’s degree combinations for DU’s undergraduates, new dual degrees for our graduate students, joint teaching and research opportunities for faculty and international professional development opportunities for staff. During Dr. Beaudoin’s tenure as vice provost, DU has continued to rank annually among the universities sending the most undergraduate students abroad for study. New study abroad courses have been designed to help students grow in their intercultural abilities. The English Language Center developed the LAUNCH curriculum, a unique credit-bearing curriculum for international students studying English, and LEADU, a dynamic, short-term English program for international learners of English. The Center for World Languages and Cultures now offers courses in languages ranging from Korean to isiZulu, providing an important element of Internationalization at Home on our campus. International Student and Scholar Services has also contributed to Internationalization at Home by participating in new initiatives such as the city-wide Denver International Student Welcome. In addition, Dr. Beaudoin has also partnered strongly with DU’s Research & Scholarship team to help secure funding to support the dissemination of faculty scholarly findings worldwide while working to establish synergistic research activities with strategic partners to build the University’s research brand and impact reach.

In addition to his leadership in the vice provost role, Dr. Beaudoin is also an international scholar in gender and queer studies, focusing on gay writers in exile worldwide—often Russian, but not always—examining how they reclaim a poetic and personal voice when their sense of identity must be rebuilt after the cultural, personal, and often linguistic loss of leaving their homes and pasts behind. He has been asked to give lectures and publish around the world on his research.

A national search to replace Luc in this role has begun, and I will share more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Luc on his accomplishments and wish him well as he returns to the faculty.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Haefner, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
University of Denver