International Careers Fair to feature veteran diplomat

Ronald Godard, former U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, will be on campus Wednesday (March 31) to participate in BGSU’s first International Careers Information Fair and related events.

Joining Godard will be James Callahan, director of recruitment for the U.S. State Department.

Part of the University’s International Week activities, the fair will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. It is not a job fair, but rather an information-sharing forum where representatives of government agencies, nonprofit organizations and corporations with international operations can showcase themselves and their missions. It is also a response to growing demand from students and faculty for information about career possibilities in the international arena.

Participating organizations include the Peace Corps, Sister Cities International of Toledo, Convergys Inc., Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. Sponsors are the Center for International Programs, the International Studies Program, the Career Center and the Office of the Executive Vice President.

The fair is open to the public, as are events immediately preceding and following it in the ballroom. A panel discussion on international careers is set from 4-5:30 p.m., and from 7-8 p.m., international and American students will lead another discussion, “Cross-cultural Communications: Building Bridges, Breaking Down Barriers.”

The day’s other public events are a meeting of students with Godard and Callahan from 10-11:30 a.m. in 1103 Offenhauer West (the International Programs conference room), and a reception for Godard from 2:30-4 p.m. in 314 Union.

Now Diplomat-in-Residence at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Godard has more than 30 years of experience as a foreign-service officer in Latin America. Before joining the State Department, the University of Texas graduate was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador.