An Atlanta-based foundation for the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB), an innovative institution in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, which was launched in 2007 with the support of Georgia State University, seeks board members interested in serving its mission to develop the necessary resources to make the university “a center of excellence” for higher education and to provide scholarships for deserving African students.
When francophone Côte d’Ivoire sought to reform its higher education system in the mid-1990s, Georgia State University stepped up to the challenge by joining with Ivorian educators in planning the development of a university where classes would be taught in English and modeled on American educational practices.
Such an innovative addition to a French-rooted educational system most probably would never have been possible if the country’s president at the time, Alassane Ouattara, hadn’t had an extensive background in U.S. educational institutions. After having completed his primary and secondary educations in West Africa, he received a bachelor of science degree in 1965 from Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia and a master’s and doctorate in economics in 1967 and 1972, respectively, from the University of Pennsylvania. ( Read more… )