Sue Shane, SU Abroad Director of Programs, has been named the 2015 Central New York International Educator of the Year. She was honored at the 7th annual CNY International Citizen Awards dinner held November 13th. The awards dinner was the kickoff event for the celebration of Central New York International Education Week, which emphasizes the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. Also honored at the ceremony was Syracuse University student Trang Dang, who was presented with the International Student Leadership Award.
The International Educator award is part of International Center of Syracuse annual awards.
The award marks the end of Shane’s distinguished career as an international educator. She will be retiring at the end of December, leaving large shoes to fill on the SU Abroad staff.
“Sue Shane has always been dedicated to working with faculty to develop significant, imaginative education abroad programs that have benefitted many, many students,” said Margaret Himley, Associate Provost for International Education and Engagement.
Shane has been with Syracuse University Abroad (formerly known as DIPA) for over 20 years in a variety of roles. In her most recent role as director of programs, she worked with faculty on-campus and overseas to design programs and build curricula that gave students in most majors options to learn in new ways and gain skills and expertise in the global world. During her career, Shane helped forge new SU Abroad centers in China (Hong Kong and Beijing), Chile (Santiago), and Istanbul. She also paved the way for specialized partner programs and faculty-led summer programs in Europe (in Berlin, Prague, and Wroclaw, Poland); in the Middle East (Beirut, Rabat, and Amman); and in Africa (in South Africa, Namibia, and Uganda).
“It has been an honor and a privilege to contribute to SU’s long tradition of international education,” said Shane. “While I love the travel, I am most pleased with how much has been accomplished working with SU program directors, departments, and deans to create new opportunities in multiple locations, so that in 2016 almost every major has options to study abroad—whether in STEM fields, or Middle East Studies, or Global Health and Community Development, or Cinematography, or Earth Science majors in search of field camps.”
For many years, Shane has supported the Encompass Trust program. Each semester, Indonesians, Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Jews, along with students from Britain and the United States, travel to the SU London Center to work in teams in outdoor challenges in remote locations and in dialogue sessions, with Syracuse students returning to the Syracuse campus to continue their intercultural work.
Over her long career in international education, Shane has shown a tireless commitment to students and their parents, and to her colleagues in Central New York and across the globe. She was always calm in a crisis, creative in finding a way forward no matter the hurdle, and she will be greatly missed.
“She is the core of massive contributions to thousands of students, and to staff, faculty, and people all over the world,” said Sharon Hollenback, professor of television, radio, and film in the S.I. Newhouse School for Public Communications. “It seemed she had found a calling, not a job.”