Dear Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the start of summer!
It has been an incredible spring semester here at the Green School and we have much good news to share.
First, I am so pleased to report that a wonderful profile of our dedicated benefactor Kimberly Green and her work in Haiti appears in the current issue of FIU Magazine. I am so proud of the excellent work being done through her generous support of our Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Congratulations to our LACC Director Frank Mora and his entire team on this milestone!
Also this semester we celebrated many student successes – both at home in Miami and in Qingdao, China, where we host our dual degree program in Spanish. I was honored to take part in the Qingdao commencement ceremony, only the second class to graduate in the program's history.
Our Spring 2019 Worlds Ahead Graduates, whose stories are profiled in this newsletter, are truly inspirational, overcoming challenges like cancer and homelessness to reach their goals and earn their degrees.
We were also thrilled to learn that the Green School has once again achieved national prominence through U.S. News & World Report, with two of our graduate programs being ranked among the top 100 in the country!
Our faculty continue to do the kind of cutting-edge research that gets recognized. And our students continue to impress us by landing jobs in notable organizations like the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
You can read about all of this and so much more in this semester's newsletter. I hope you will take a few minutes to do just that.
You can also access the latest issue of our Green School magazine online at https://bit.ly/3058071.
As always, we are grateful for your generous support of our work and our students!
Best,
John
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The Patron: Kimberly Green on her work in Haiti and the center that bears her name
One of our most passionate supporters, Kimberly Green — the namesake of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center and daughter of Ambassador Steven J. Green and Dorothea Green — was featured in the latest issue of the FIU Magazine for her outstanding work in Haiti, her mission to give back to others and the impact she is having on our local and global community. Read more.
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LACC at 40: Director Frank Mora on the center’s accomplishments
Frank O. Mora is the director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) and a professor in the Department of Politics & International Relations.
LACC has a long and successful history at FIU and this year celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding by then-professor Mark B. Rosenberg, today the university’s president.
Mora shared his reflections on this milestone and LACC's history in this piece, published in the FIU Magazine. Read more.
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Students graduate from Modern Languages program in Qingdao, China
This spring we celebrated a special commencement ceremony for a group of our Spanish language students at Qingdao University in China.
Through the Green School's Department of Modern Languages and in partnership with Qingdao University, these students earned a dual degree in Spanish that focuses on business and cultural issues in Latin America and Spain. Congratulations to all our Qingdao graduates!
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Worlds Ahead Graduates honored during Spring Commencement
Congratulations to our Green School Worlds Ahead Graduates for Spring 2019! They were each recognized during their commencement ceremonies as outstanding students and exemplary Panthers. We wish them the best in all their future endeavors. Read their inspiring stories below.
Dorysped Mancebo, B.A. in international relations
Amber Mannings, B.A. in political science
Hailey Conboy, B.S. in criminal justice
Christina Bazzaroni, Ph.D. in global and sociocultural studies
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Green School graduate programs rank among top 100 in public universities
 The Department of Public Policy and Administration’s Ph.D. in public affairs was ranked 52nd and the public finance and budgeting program was ranked 22nd among public universities.
Congratulations to our outstanding faculty, staff and students! Read more.
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Green School alumna and supporter Vivian Zumot Dimond featured in FIU Magazine
 Vivan Zumot Dimond, who earned her bachelor's degree in criminal justice in 1980, is a trailblazer and innovator.
Originally from Jordan, Dimond worked for the FBI after graduating from FIU and later became a managing broker and principal at Brown Harris Stevens.
An FIU Torch Awards honoree, Dimond has contributed to FIU's Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Center for Muslim World Studies with the goal of helping people understand what Islam is truly about.
Read more.
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Alumna lands job at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
International relations major Paula Mora, who graduated in 2017, now works at the World Bank as an IT Assistant. She manages project approval processes, including project quality assurance, maintenance and approval of project workflows.
She says the coolest thing about working at the World Bank is getting to participate in World Bank annual meetings – where leaders from all around the world and experts from various sectors meet. Read more.
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Policymakers unveil report on next steps in Venezuela crisis
As the crisis in Venezuela continues to dominate headlines, a team of prominent policy experts from the region recently came to FIU to unveil a new report on what they say might happen next – and what course of action by the United States and others could help bring about peace.
The report was prepared by the Venezuela Working Group of the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading foreign policy think tank that focuses on the Western Hemisphere. Read more.
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The Humanities Edge awards first research grants to Green School projects
Sociology professor Matthew Marr and history professor Ken Lipartito each received a $10,000 grant for their research projects in the humanities from the Humanities Edge program. Marr is studying homelessness in Overtown as part of a long-term research project, Neighborhoods of Refuge.
Lipartito is researching the lives of African Americans in Florida during the 1840s and 1850s for a project called Free Blacks of Florida. Read more here. |
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Professor to lead independent electoral observations in Guatemala
 Former Costa Rican President and FIU professor Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera will lead an independent team charged with observing national elections in Guatemala this summer.
Solís, who served as president of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018, was chosen by the Organization of American States (OAS) to head its independent electoral mission to Guatemala, which will hold general elections for president and Congress on June 16.
Read more.
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Colombian leaders urge unity, action at PorColference 2019
This year PorColombia – the largest organization of Colombian students and professionals in the U.S. – chose FIU to host its annual conference. The conference brought together leading politicians, journalists and others to discuss the South American country's development and potential. Read more.
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Alumnus creates first fellowship endowment in history
To give back to his alma mater and strengthen research opportunities for budding history scholars, Henry “Hank” Voegtle recently established a yearly $1,000 scholarship that will support undergraduate or graduate researchers who study the history of Florida or the Southern U.S. Read more.
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International security experts discuss efforts to fight financial crime in Latin America
Kenneth Blanco, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, was recently in Miami to meet with the heads of 23 financial intelligence units from throughout the Americas to improve transnational efforts to fight money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes.
Following their closed-door meetings at FIU, Blanco joined his counterparts from Argentina and Canada for a conversation on the issue with students and faculty. Read more.
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Students get hands-on learning from the life of a president
Master’s students at the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs got to learn from a man widely regarded as one of the brightest minds in Central American politics—proving experience is, indeed, the greatest source of knowledge.
Former Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera is a professor of “Contemporary Politics in Central America” at FIU’s Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC). Read about his class here.
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Gender wage gap persists in Miami-Dade County, Met Center report finds
 Maria Ilcheva, assistant director of the FIU Metropolitan Center, reflected on the state of gender equality in Miami-Dade County and revealed key findings from her latest report about the topic in an op-ed piece that was published on FIU News.
Ilcheva has authored three annual reports that track the progress toward closing the gender gap in Miami-Dade.
Read her op-ed here.
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Forum provides a space for indigenous perspectives on campus, leads scholarship
 The Global Indigenous Forum at FIU embodies a unique and internationally-oriented vision that is increasingly making it stand out among similar programs.
While other offices often focus on the study of regional indigenous groups, FIU’s forum transcends boundaries and genuinely explores perspectives from indigenous communities around the entire world. Read more.
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FIU Model UN team wins Best Large Delegation at Harvard Competition
FIU’s Model UN team has won Best Large Delegation at Harvard University’s Model United Nations competition. This is the most competitive Model UN simulation in the world. The team won numerous other prestigious awards this semester, including Best Large Delegation at Emory University and Best Small Delegation at Berkeley. To see a list of all Spring 2019 awards, click here.
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Green School unveils 2018 Magazine
 2018 was a year filled with tremendous accomplishments by Green School faculty, inspiring success by our students and alumni and several important milestones for the school overall.
This issue of the Green School Magazine features some of the most significant milestones and success stories from the year.
Learn about all the latest happening at the Green School and view our magazine here.
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Fourth Annual Hemispheric Security Conference
Join the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy and the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center for the 4th Annual Hemispheric Security Conference on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.
The conference will feature an opening keynote by Admiral Craig S. Faller, Commander, U.S. Southern Command. The program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Follow the conference on social media for updates using #HSC2019.
To register for the conference, click here.
For more information on upcoming events at the Green School, click here.
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