I benefited from an internship abroad and I feel this will make a difference for the students. |  | A study abroad experience appeals to many students and a new program makes the opportunity available to any University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate. The International Academic Internships Initiative (IAII) is a unique, three-credit program that is a collaborative effort between the Division of International Studies, the School of Business, the College of Engineering, the Institute for Cross-College Biology Education, Center for East Asian Studies, Center for European Studies and Global Studies.
Jack Lavin (’76 BBA) knows that international internships can be important academic and professional opportunities. As a UW student, he was a member of the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences, and he spent a summer working at a Swedish bank. Today, Jack is president and CEO of Arrow Financial Services LLC in Niles, Illinois.
“I benefited from an internship abroad and I feel this will make a difference for the students,” said Jack, who has made a gift to support, expand and strengthen the IAII. “I met some of the students and found they are genuinely interested in understanding how to connect academia with real world challenges and using their international experiences to apply to their academics once they returned to the UW.” |
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| During the summer of 2006, the first term of the internships, seven interns were placed in Japan and the Netherlands through Central Japan Railways, Toshiba and Promega. The work of the interns varied widely, as did the majors of the students. The interns represented the College of Letters and Science, School of Business and the School of Human Ecology.
“Jack's generous gift to the IAII provided support to all seven interns in the program last year,” said Mark Lilleleht, associate director of the IAII. “And it went a long way to making that first summer such a success.”
“The IAII really changed my outlook on what I wanted to do with my life,” said intern John Siebert. “After getting a taste of what marketing is like in a real world application, I have totally switched careers and am now hoping to get a job in the marketing industry. If it were not for Jack Lavin's generous gift, I would have undoubtedly missed out on one of the best experiences I have had in my life.” |
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