Kent State Strengthens Academic Ties with PUCPR of Brazil
Delegates from both Kent State University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) met on Thursday, March 31, 2016, for a signing ceremony in which the two institutions formally recognized their elevated relationship as strategic partners. During the short ceremony, Dr. Todd Diacon, Kent State's senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Paulo Mussi Augusto, vice president of Pontifical Catholic University, signed joint agreements (see photo at right) in the Provost’s Conference Room of the Kent State Library. A small audience of interested faculty and staff members of the Office of Global Education and Kent State University also attended.
In addition to Vice President Paulo Mussi Augusto, Marcelo Távora Mira, Ph.D., Director of International Affairs for the university also traveled to the U.S. for the signing ceremony as well as to attend the Internationalization Symposium hosted by the Office of Global Education the next day. During the symposium, Mira provided an engaging presentation which included a profile of PUCPR as well as a short introduction to a new strategic plan envisioning greater internationalization for the university. In addition, the two delegates toured the new Center for Visual Arts building on Thursday with Christine Havice, director of the Kent State School of Art, and Diacon.
The Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná is a private, not-for-profit Catholic university. Its main campus is located in Curitiba, the capital city of the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. As stated on the university's website, “PUCPR maintains cooperation agreements with foreign institutions recognized for their quality, aiming at providing opportunities for students' and faculty mobility, as well as for research activities and implementation of joint programs and events.”