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News Release BOISE STATE NEWS RELEASE / December 15, 2008 Boise State University Forms Its First International Alumni Chapter in Vietnam Boise State University’s first international alumni chapter has been formed in Vietnam. The Vietnam alums are graduates of an English language MBA program that Boise State ran in Vietnam from 1990-99, the first ever internationally accredited MBA program conducted in Vietnam. There were 84 graduates of the program, many of who now run their own successful companies or hold leadership positions in the private or public sector in Vietnam. “Its great to see and feel ourselves part of the alma mater,” said Ha Nguyen, a 1997 graduate of the MBA program who has helped lead the chartering process and is serving as president for the alumni chapter. The Vietnam alums have maintained ties with Boise State through former professors, including Nancy Napier, a professor of international business who headed up the Vietnam MBA program and still teaches courses in Hanoi once a year. She just visited this month and took the newly formed chapter members Boise State pompoms, luggage tags and other alumni association membership items. “This is our first international chapter, so it’s very new for Boise State,” said Jennifer Wheeler, senior associate director for alumni relations at Boise State. “We have set up a Web page to help them communicate with us and each other.” The purpose of the Boise State Alumni Vietnam Chapter is to provide closer contact between the university and the Vietnam alums. But the formation of the chapter could have other positive results. The Boise State alums also met with Sabine Klahr, director of international programs at Boise State, and colleague Chalimar Swain, when they visited Hanoi prior to joining an Idaho trade mission to Asia in Ho Chi Minh City, led by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter in October. The purpose of the trip was to promote the trade, business and education exchange between Vietnam and Idaho. Klahr said that current alums in Hanoi were very helpful in setting up meetings with educational consultants in Hanoi and plans are in the works to bring Vietnamese students to Boise State’s intensive English program (and into the university after completing their intensive English studies.) While Klahr met with the Boise alums, she encouraged them to develop a Vietnam alumni chapter. The Boise State alums also hope to serve as a bridge for business between Idaho and Vietnam. An international chapter is unusual given that it takes at least 750 Boise State alums in one location to create a formal geographic chapter. But Boise State Alumni Association Executive Director Mark Arstein said the alumni association was so impressed with the Vietnam alums’ energy, commitment, and the fact that many of them have become dues-paying members, that the association waived the requirement to bring the group of dedicated alumni into the Bronco network. For more information about the Vietnam alumni chapter, visit http://alumni.boisestate.edu/groups/vietnam.asp -30- Contact: Sherry Squires, University Communications, (208) 426-1563, ssquires@boisestate.edu Boise State University is “The New U Rising” with record student enrollment, new academic buildings, additional degree programs and a growing research agenda. Learn more at www.boisestate.edu.
Last reviewed on Monday, December 15, 2008
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