Tanuja Singh

Singh honored as top International Educator

by Joe King

Hanging a description on Tanuja Singh is no easy task: Marketing professor, globetrotter, consultant, researcher and citizen of the world are all accurate, but none of those descriptions is all encompassing.

One title to which she can lay claim, which speaks to many of the above aspects of her personality, is International Educator of the Year, an honor bestowed upon her in October by the NIU Division of International Programs.

"Our goal is to bring the perspectives of the world to NIU, and bring the expertise of NIU to the world. Few people on this campus do those things better than Dr. Singh," said Deb Pierce, executive director of the Division of International Programs.

Indeed, ask Singh what she has been up to the last couple of years, and it is clear she is immersed in all things international as they relate to her field of study.

In the last two years she has traveled to 10 foreign countries, including a workshop in Belgium last summer to learn more about the European Union. She ran a workshop on e-business for Egyptian petroleum executives, consulted on international issues for several companies, is co-chairing a tract on global e-commerce for the World Marketing Congress conference in Perth, Australia, next year and is chairing a tract on global marketing for the Marketing Management Association's meeting next spring in Chicago.

On campus, she actively participates in the International Programs Advisory Council, has served as the international coordinator for the College of Business, lectures at workshops on international issues, was a member of the Presidential Task Force on International Education and actively supports international students in a variety of ways.

"She is, without a doubt, the College of Business expert in international education," Denise Schoenbachler, chair of the Department of Marketing, said in nominating Singh for the award. "The primary recipients of her commitment have been NIU students, from those experiencing her class to those reaping the benefits of programs resulting from the task force and coordinator positions she has held."

Singh wouldn't have it any other way, as she believes that students only can benefit from a more global perspective.

"It is not only important to their success in business - but also for them to grow as people. They need to recognize that the world is a big place with many different kinds of people, cultures and ideas to which they must be open," she said.

To provide that perspective in her classes, Singh draws liberally upon her experiences abroad and brings international business men and women into her class whenever possible. Some classes even take on projects for companies looking to investigate overseas markets, studying the issue and making recommendations. Through her work with the Division of International Programs Advisory Council, Singh has worked to encourage others to find similar ways of including an international perspective in classes across campus.

"I would like an international perspective to be part of every class taught at the university, not just in business, but in all classes. It's good policy because, if we are more aware of what is going on in the world, we will have a greater understanding of how others perceive us. And if we better understand one another, the world will be a more prosperous and peaceful place."

Singh, who joined the faculty at NIU seven years ago, said she was thrilled to receive the award.

"It really meant a lot to me," she said. "Since I got here I have been working toward making international education an important part of the NIU experience - I have worked at the department level, the college level and the university level. This recognition tells me that what I have done really matters."

11/18/2002