The
Winner of Dr. Werner Kubsch Award 2005
Dr. Jack Bermingham
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Highline Community College
Des Moines, Washington
Throughout
his career, Dr. Jack Bermingham has formed lasting relationships with
people and institutions in the United States and around the world. Jack
has consistently designed and directed projects that have had significant
impacts at home, on overseas institutions, and on the communities each
serves.
Jack traveled
to southern Africa to conduct field research for his dissertation and
those initial contacts began a life-long connection to that continent.
He was granted his Ph.D. from University of California, Santa Barbara
in African History in 1979 and then was appointed as a history lecturer
at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. During both of his next
academic appointments, Jack used his Africa and Caribbean connections
to enhance his courses and create programs for faculty and students.
Since becoming
Vice President for Academic Affairs at Highline in 1994, Jack has been
able to bring all of his international experience together. Under his
direction, Highline enjoys higher education partnerships in South Africa,
Namibia, Japan, and China to name four. The southern African partnerships
have been especially fruitful. Highline currently has relationships with
the Polytechnic of Namibia, the University of Namibia (both in Namibia),
Cape Technikon, Peninsula Technikon, False Bay College, University of
Cape Town, and the University of Port Elizabeth (all in South Africa)
to list only a few. These relationships have led to the development of
a number of successful grant projects, faculty connections that have impacted
Highline curriculum, and opened the doors for other community colleges
to initiate their own programming with these institutions.
Jack gets
things done by collaborating with others. By working with U.S. Embassy
officials, USAID Mission personnel, national and regional ministries,
and the leadership in each partner institution, he ensures that Highline’s
international initiatives support national development priorities, funding
agency strategic objectives, and institutional missions. He also understands
that for international higher education partnerships to succeed, faculty
must play defining roles in choosing the institutions, shaping the projects,
and determining how the programs will be institutionalized.
Faculty have
traveled on every one of Highline’s international grants. The impact
on Highline’s curriculum of the research instructors conducted and
the relationships they forged with southern African colleagues continues
and expands. Africa is not Jack’s only priority. As important is
the China faculty exchange initiative Jack negotiated with Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, now in its sixth year, his support for faculty teach
in study abroad programs, and his commitment to building relationships
in Japan and the United Kingdom.
The projects
Jack designs and implements seek to develop replicable models that other
institutions can use and all have had impact beyond the initial grant,
benefiting host country institutions and people as well as those in the
United States. As important, the partnerships Jack has nurtured have become
part of Highline’s way of doing business. Faculty, students, and
staff have opportunities to learn from counterparts from around the world,
providing them with an expanded global awareness all value.
CONGRATULATIONS
Jack!!!