The University of Calgary: Quickly becoming a global intellectual hub

Sri Lanka-born Janaka Ruwanpura, Vice-Provost of the University of Calgary’s International Operations, graduated as a top international student abroad before joining hundreds of culturally diverse faculty members at the U of C.

Today he is vice-provost of the university’s international department and one of 910 faculty who hail from the United States, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong and eight other countries. He shares his colleague’s multi-ethnic roots with a sense of pride.

“The U of C is a thriving picture of diversity with 910 of 1,784 faculty culled from our elite international student graduates and from upstanding foreign universities,” notes Ruwanpura. “A striking 51 per cent of our scholars are culturally diverse with at least one foreign degree (a bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or post-graduate diploma).

Of the 1,784 faculty at the university, 252 emanate from well-cuffed universities, including Cambridge, London and Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Berkeley, Harvard and Yale in the U.S.

The mixing of world cultures on the U of C’s campuses is in step with the international department’s strategy to lure more high-quality foreign students and send 1,000 to 1,700 student abroad in the near future.

“Not only does this allow local students to internationalize their degree, but they are able to gain cross-cultural skills and work competitively in today’s interconnected, global market,” explains Ruwanpura.

“The career paths of the future will be in the global sphere,” he says. “Many of our international students will create business and job opportunities in Canada and their home countries after honing their leadership skills at the University of Calgary.”

Sending Canadian students abroad is a way of fostering graduates with worldviews and leadership talents for the careers of the future.

The number of international students coming to Canada is rising, according to a report titled A World of Learning: Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education 2014. By contrast, “three per cent of Canadian students are studying abroad,” states the Canadian Bureau for International Education.

Ruwanpura muses, “I want this three per cent to grow to give our students international experience and guarantee their prosperity and success locally and even internationally in the 21st century.

Thanks in part to Ruwanpura’s early achievement as a U.S. Fulbright scholar and international student, he is a role model for international students at the U of C and elsewhere. He studied abroad and works abroad. His international success has come full circle.

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