International Education Awards Presented to Andrew Young School Alumnus and Students

ATLANTA— Alumnus Baoyun Qiao (Ph.D. in Economics ’01) and students Jalissa Spalding and Edwin Mathies Jr., were recognized at the International Education Awards ceremony held to celebrate Georgia State University’s International Education Week (IEW) November 12-18, 2018.

President Mark Becker presented Qiao with Georgia State’s first Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement, one of two new awards named on behalf of Dr. Jagdish and Mrs. Madhuri Sheth. Qiao, who is dean of the China Academy of Public Finance and Policy at Central University of Finance and Economics, was recognized for his work in public sector economics. Georgia State’s Office of International Initiatives also presented its first Sheth Alumni video of Qiao and Dean Sally Wallace.

Andrew Young School of Policy Studies students Jalissa Spalding and Edwin Mathies Jr. were also recognized for embodying what it means to be global citizens who work to advance international understanding across campus and around the globe.

Spalding, a graduate student in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology, was named the Study Abroad Student of the Year. She spent a semester abroad in the West Indies and is completing a Master of Science degree in criminal justice.

Mathies Jr., a Master of Public Administration student, received the International Graduate Student of the Year award. Mathies, who is from Monrovia, Liberia, enrolled as a student in the Department of Public Policy & Management after completing the school’s six-week Public Management Institute for the 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

These honorees join other exemplary individuals from the Andrew Young School who received International Education Awards in previous years. In 2017, Glenn Ross, clinical associate professor of economics, was awarded with the Study Abroad Program Co-Director of the Year. Prior to 2017, two students were awarded with the Study Abroad Student of the Year award: Jessica Mitchell (Economics ’16) in 2015 and Gina Granauro (Economics ’16) in 2014.

IEW was created by the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education and promotes international education and exchange participants. Each fall, the Office of International Initiatives hosts the International Honorary Reception, along with more than 80 exhibits, expos and other interactive activities that provide the university community with an opportunity to celebrate the richness of different cultures.