Executive Director of Global Engagement and International Programs Annique Kiel has appointed Jeffrey Kappen, assistant professor of international business, to serve as acting director of both the Principal Center for Global Citizenship (PCGC) and the Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs for the 2017–2018 academic year. He will also serve as assistant director of both programs during the Spring 2017 semester. During 2017–2018, Kappen will replace Professor David Skidmore, Director of PCGC and the Nelson Institute, during Skidmore’s two-semester sabbatical.

In his capacity as acting director of PCGC, Kappen will oversee the center’s international events series, the global and comparative public health concentration, the Global Ambassador program, the Global Practitioner program, and faculty development funding. He will also assist Executive Director Kiel on other projects related to campus internationalization.

Kappen’s responsibilities for the Nelson Institute encompass funding for Model United Nations, Model European Union, and Model Arab League simulation teams; the Global Pressing Issues Grant program; a student conference travel fund; and an annual conference on global affairs.

Kappen holds a bachelor’s degree from Beloit College in international relations and modern languages, an MBA in international business and marketing from the University of Wisconsin, and a PhD in organization studies from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. His current research projects look at integration efforts among emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS); transnational institutions and networks; and the role of language in multinational firms. Before returning to academia, Kappen spent ten years working with companies from start-ups to the Fortune 100, which included over three years working and studying in Europe and South America. Kappen teaches a course on globalization that is required of all students in CBPA and has been actively involved in various international programs and projects since his arrival at Drake in 2012.

—Denise Ganpat, Drake International