Learning Abroad Center
Director Search
Johnson named director of Learning Abroad Center
Martha Johnson has been selected as the director of the Learning Abroad Center at the University of Minnesota, after an extensive national search. Johnson is the current interim director of the center.
“We were fortunate to have a number of qualified candidates apply for the position. That is a testament to the reputation and work of the Learning Abroad Center,” said Meredith McQuaid, associate vice president and dean for international programs. “Martha was selected for the position because of her national reputation and a proven record of providing and coordinating high-quality education abroad experiences. I look forward to working with her as we continue the great work of the Learning Abroad Center and look for new ways to provide international experiences for our students.”
Johnson has worked in education abroad since 1991, including on-site in Ireland, four years based in England, and institutional relations management for several program providers. Martha has been at the University of Minnesota since 2001. She holds a B.A. from St. Mary’s University in Minnesota with a double major in Literature and Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Literature from the University of St. Thomas with an emphasis in multicultural and travel literature, and post-colonial theory. Martha has presented and co-chaired numerous sessions and workshops at national and international conferences, served on a variety of education abroad program advisory boards, and her published work includes articles, essays, and co-authoring the “Working Abroad” chapter in the NAFSA Guide to Education Abroad, 2004 edition. She has served in numerous leadership positions and national task forces on ethics for both NAFSA and the Forum On Education Abroad. (Download her C.V.)
About the Learning Abroad Center
The Learning Abroad Center, a unit of the Office of International Programs, is the University of Minnesota’s comprehensive resource on the Twin Cities campus for study, service-learning, intern, volunteer, work, and travel experiences worldwide. It is recognized nationally as a leader in the field of education abroad, with its acclaimed “Minnesota Model” of integrating international experiences into the curriculum and the large and growing number of students who participate each year. In rankings published in Open Doors 2008, a national survey, the Twin Cities campus ranked 4th among research institutions in numbers of students sent abroad on credit-bearing programs in 2006-2007, with 2,079.