Over 100 people from Iowa City and around the world attended the 2025 Provost’s Global Forum, hosted by University of Iowa (UI) International Programs, Feb. 6–8. The event centered on student success, highlighting the critical role of strategic partnerships between the private sector and universities.

The 2025 award winner, Private Sector and University Partnerships: Pursuing Pathways for Global Collaboration, Learning, Prosperity, and Democracy, presented strategies to build valuable partnerships between universities and private companies. Speakers from Kosovo, Singapore, Sweden, India, and Saudia Arabia, as well as from the United States, came together to discuss how to prepare students for their future through sustainable industry and university partnerships and global connections.

Maria Aguilar-Mateo, a UI student and panelist, spoke about her experience studying abroad last summer in Singapore.

“My study abroad experience was the opening point into my career, where I was able to learn about global connections and how global industries can be successful,” Aguilar-Mateo said.

Other UI students attended the event and said it gave them a new perspective on the world.

“As a student who didn’t get the chance to study abroad, going to events like this gives me that global perspective,” Maryam Al Share said. “As a graduating senior, I want to feel more prepared about the world.”

Another student, Yanitza Gutierrez, said that attending this event encouraged her to continue to explore new opportunities.

“If a student isn’t sure of the career path they want to take, opportunities like this are really encouraging,” Gutierrez said. “Having more insight on global issues is only going to provide me with more career opportunities in the future.”

Gutierrez added that she believes this event is also beneficial for local businesses in Iowa.

“I work in a small business with my parents, and I want to help them,” Gutierrez said. “Learning about other global businesses and getting ideas on how I can help their small business in Iowa is important. This event gave me more encouragement to grow.”

The forum featured three days of programming, including sessions highlighting the University of Iowa’s USAID Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen Higher Education Activity between the UI and Kosovo, and the 2025 Joel Barkan Memorial Lecture, delivered by Catherine Chong, director of the Office of Industry Engagement at Singapore Management University in Singapore.

“I think this event was important because the topic was about universities trying to engage and be better,” Chong said. “It was an opportunity for all of us to share our achievements with each other.”

One of the presenters at the event, Daryl Bouwkamp, chair of the Iowa District Export Council and senior director of international business development and government affairs at Vermeer Corporation, said he sees universities as essential to the private sector’s need to fill the workforce pipeline with skilled talent and innovation that’s necessary for solving and satisfying ever-changing global needs.

"In a unique way, universities foster several types of essential relationships that are necessary for contributing to healthy global trade," Bouwkamp said. "Universities are engines of economic development, and if they have international students, they are engaged in international trade as exporters."

Bouwkamp added that the lessons students learn through cross-cultural academic programs and exposure better equip them to add value to the economy and global trade.

"International students receiving an education at the university, developing lasting ties with the institution and country, return back to their respective countries and start companies themselves or interact with U.S. companies in some way," Bouwkamp said.

Russell Ganim, associate provost and dean of International Programs, said this year’s Provost’s Global Forum was particularly significant because it highlighted the University of Iowa’s involvement in public-private partnerships across the world.

“In countries such as Kosovo, India, and Saudi Arabia, UI faculty and alumni are working in areas such as curricular design, water management, and workforce training to promote economic development and educational opportunities,” Ganim said.

Erin Johnson, one of the forum organizers and professor of instruction in management and entrepreneurship at the UI Tippie College of Business, said this year’s event was aimed at preparing students for the future through global collaboration.

“Regardless of what their major or field of study is, if they’re living in Iowa, having an international connection will help them when they graduate and start applying for internships and jobs,” Johnson said.

This year’s forum was generously funded by the Stanley-University of Iowa Foundation Support Organization, UI International Programs, and UI Tippie College of Business. It was co-organized by Dr. Cassie Barnhardt, professor of higher education and student affairs, UI College of Education; Dr. Ken Brown, department executive officer, UI College of Education, and the Tippie Children Professor of Management, UI Tippie College of Business; Dimy Doresca, executive director, Institute for International Business, and clinical associate professor in management and entrepreneurship, UI Tippie College of Business; Erin Johnson, professor of instruction in management and entrepreneurship, UI Tippie College of Business; Christopher Kromphardt, career readiness and success consultant, USAID Activity Private Sector Partnerships to Strengthen Higher Education; and Zoie Schares, senior program manager in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies, UI College of Education.