alumni

Qianyi He

Qianyi He, speech & hearing science grad, reflects on experience as an international student at Iowa

Thursday, May 25, 2023
Qianyi He, from Suzhou, China, recently received her BA in speech & hearing science and psychology from the University of Iowa (UI). She reflects on how the UI prepared her to pursue a clinical doctorate in audiology.
Olivier

How Iowa prepared Olivier Munyeshyaka to become an African investor

Monday, January 30, 2023
Olivier Munyeshyaka obtained a master’s degree in accountancy at the UI and currently works at the Rwanda Innovation Fund, a government-funded investment firm which invests in technology startups across Africa.
Mariana Garces Grajales with friend in front of purple lights and fountain

Her Colombian roots helped Mariana Garcés Grajales settle into Italy

Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Mariana Garcés Grajales (BA communication studies, '22) participated in the USAC Reggio Emilia program in spring 2022 and shares what she learned.
woman wearing red top

International Programs to host conversation with UI alumna Meembo Changula - Sept. 15

Friday, September 2, 2022
Join us for the sixth installment in our Global Alumni Spotlight Series featuring alumna Meembo Changula (MS urban and regional planning '10).
Chelsea and Inés, Glasgow, 2016

Lifelong friendships and career success attributed to study abroad experience

Monday, August 15, 2022
Chelsea Prestien, an alum who earned a BA in journalism and mass communication in 2013, took a chance to study abroad which has made a lasting impact on her ever since.
profile image wearing blue shirt in front of yellow background

Global Alumni Spotlight series to discuss Ukrainian experience - June 22

Thursday, May 26, 2022
Join International Programs for the fifth installment in their Global Alumni Spotlight Series featuring alumnus Geoffrey D'Souza (BS political science ‘01). D'Souza will talk with UI International Programs Associate Provost and Dean Russ Ganim about his experiences living and working in Ukraine and how the country has changed over the course of the past 20 years.
Briana in Berlin during the final months of her two-year research stay in Berlin, funded with external grants from the DAAD and Free University of Berlin, April 2015.

Donor-funded UI research experiences lead to Harvard and book deal

Tuesday, May 24, 2022
The recipient of multiple student funding research awards while at Iowa, Briana Smith attributes many of her successes to her time at Iowa and the support she received from faculty and staff mentors.
International Graduation Ceremony group photo of graduates

International students celebrate accomplishments at affinity graduation ceremony

Monday, May 16, 2022
In a celebration of perseverance, accomplishment, and their collective experiences, international students at the University of Iowa held an affinity graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 12.
student awardee poses for photo

UI alumna Megan Lederman awarded Fulbright to Vietnam

Thursday, April 28, 2022
Megan Lederman, who received a BA with a double major in English and creative writing (emphasis in Native American literature) and French from the University of Iowa in May 2019, is the winner of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to Vietnam for 2022-23.
Param

From the farms of Iowa to the farms of India

Thursday, April 7, 2022
Trained as a chemical engineer both in India and in the United States, A. K. Parameswaran (MBA ‘89) entered the University of Iowa MBA program in 1987 with a prestigious scholarship. Currently holding an executive management position in India’s agricultural industry, Parameswaran says he has used what he learned from the Iowa MBA almost every day in his career over the past three decades.
Elisha Smiley, lecturing instructor of baking and pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of America

‘Culinary spark’ from study abroad experience inspired UI alum Elisha Smiley to pursue career as pastry chef and instructor

Saturday, January 22, 2022
As an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa, Elisha Smiley (BBA accounting ’01; MAc accounting ’02) studied abroad in Dijon, France. It was a semester filled with learning to adapt, meeting new friends, and expanding her worldview, but perhaps most impactful was the connection she made to food. This connection helped to spark a career change from accounting to that of pastry chef and instructor.
Lauren Smiley in India, where she reported a story

Award-winning freelance journalist on the impact of her study abroad experience

Monday, November 29, 2021
Lauren Smiley (BA journalism and mass communication; Spanish ’05) is an award-winning freelance journalist (https://laurensmiley.contently.com/) based in San Francisco, California. Writing for publications such as WIRED, The Atlantic, and The New York Times, Smiley feels her study abroad experience in Guadalajara, Mexico, as an undergraduate at Iowa helped her build skills that contribute to her success writing in-depth magazine stories—namely navigating the arrival in a new community with grace and resourcefulness. We caught up with Marion, Iowa, native Smiley to learn more about her study abroad experience and how it shaped her personally and professionally.