Nov. 25, 2008
Contact: John Battenburg
Director of International Education and Programs
805-756-2945
Architecture Professor Receives International Educator Award
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly Architecture Professor Don Swearingen is the recipient of the 2008 Cal Poly International Educator Award.
The annual honor, sponsored by the International Education and Programs Council, recognizes a faculty member who has significantly contributed to international education at Cal Poly.
Swearingen received the award during the International Education Week Reception Friday, Nov. 21. The reception recognizes faculty and staff who have contributed to international education at Cal Poly.
Swearingen has been a faculty member in the Architecture Department at Cal Poly since 1974. While in graduate school, he was awarded the George C. Marshall Scholarship to study industrialized buildings systems in Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden from 1969-71. He continued his involvement in international education activities by conducting research on adaptive reuse of older structures in Sweden during his sabbatical leave from Cal Poly in 1980-81.
The subsequent year, Swearingen was appointed resident director of the California State University International Program at Uppsala University in Sweden and the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Denmark.
For the past 34 years, he has served as the lead faculty advisor for California State University International Architecture Programs in Denmark and Italy. He has advised administrators, faculty and students in these programs. Because of his enthusiasm for and commitment to international education, thousands of Cal Poly students have had the opportunity to study abroad.
Reflecting on Professor Swearingen’s contributions to international education and scholarship, Cal Poly President Warren G. Baker observed that he “is a true exemplar of global engagement. Over the past several decades, he has created extraordinary opportunities for our students to participate in life-changing study-abroad experiences. Through his scholarship, he has helped spread awareness of Scandinavian architectural practices. This award is a fitting recognition of his many achievements through a long and distinguished career.”
Swearingen taught architecture at Texas A & M University, the University of Arizona and Cuesta College. He has served as a faculty intern at Watry Design in Redwood City, Calif., and was an instructor-in-residence at the Washington, D.C./Alexandria Architecture Consortium in Alexandria, Va.
International Education & Programs, the principal resource center for international education at Cal Poly, serves both international and study abroad students.
For more information, call 805-756-2945.
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