Illinois NAFSAns Present Senator Durbin with Global Leader Award

On March 27, 12 Illinois members presented Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill) with a NAFSA Global Leader Award. Senator Durbin is a longtime supporter of international education and exchange through his introduction of visionary study abroad legislation and his support for legislation to ensure the United States remains competitive in attracting international talent.

In July 2006, Senator Durbin, along with Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), introduced the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Act of 2006. This legislation implemented recommendations set forth by the Lincoln Commission. Although the bill did not pass in the 109th Congress, it gained strong bipartisan support with 46 cosponsors. On March 27, the same day Senator Durbin received the Global Leader Award, he and Senator Coleman introduced
S. 991, the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act of 2007, with 20 of the original cosponsors on the bill. In addition to his support for U.S. students to study abroad, in the 109th Congress, Senator Durbin supported the ACTION Act of 2005, which would ensure the United States remains competitive in attracting the best and brightest international students and scholars.

The 12 Illinois NAFSAns who presented the award were: Annette Epstein (Foreign Consultants Inc.), Rubee Li Fuller (Roosevelt University), Dale Gardner, Sarah Gleisner and Fiona Bruce Griswold (University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign), Mary Beth Johnson (Loyola University Chicago), Marianyelli Lopez and Tami Renner (Northwestern University), Julie Maddox (Illinois Institute of Technology), Symon Ogeto (University of Chicago), Deborah L. Pierce (Northern Illinois University), and Diane Viverito (Moraine Valley Community College).

The NAFSA Global Leader Award was established in 2002 in response to the increasing desire of international education professionals to honor their elected officials who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in advancing international education issues on the national agenda. View a list of past recipients.