Alumni networking event in Dubai proves strength of Hokie connections

Alumna Katherine Lelia Hall has learned that no matter how far from Blacksburg her career takes her, she’s never far from a fellow Hokie.

That sense of global community was reaffirmed recently at the first Hokies in the Middle East alumni networking event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. An initiative of the Language and Culture Institute, with support from Alumni Relations and the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, the event brought together more than 85 alumni, students, and supporters from the region.

“The connections we made in Blacksburg and continue to make all over the world are the reason that we chose Virginia Tech in the first place,” said Hall, who earned a master’s degree in English in 1998 and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction in 2001 and now teaches at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. “It is very exciting to know that we alumni can still keep our connection with Virginia Tech even when we live far away.”

Read more at VT News.

Entomologist from Vietnam gains global perspective at Virginia Tech

Tran Thi My Hanh and Muni Muniappan host a booth at Hokie BugFest.

Tran Thi My Hanh hoped the semester she is spending in Blacksburg improving her English at the Language and Culture Institute's Intensive English Program and studying entomology would help her combat the pests and pesticides that keep her native Vietnam from thriving in global markets.

She is finding, however, that her semesterlong stay is teaching her even more.

“Coming from Vietnam, I can really say that Virginia Tech is known around the world,” said Hahn, who is the deputy head of plant protection at the Southern Horticultural Research Institute in Vietnam. “While here, I have improved my listening, speaking, and writing skills. I have also gained access to new books and can read entomology articles much easier now, which will benefit my work helping smallholder farmers manage their crop threats.”

Read more about Hanh's journey.