Virginia Tech Distinguished Professor Paul L. Knox has been appointed Senior Fellow for International Advancement by university President Charles W. Steger. In this role, Knox will work to enhance international education at Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech is dedicated to expanding on its 30-plus-year commitment to education abroad. Annually, more than 800 Virginia Tech students participate in and about 30 faculty lead education abroad programs. The university also has more than 60 bilateral exchange agreements with other colleges and universities on six continents, owns and operates its own residence and classroom facility in Switzerland, and operates a center in the Dominican Republic.

In June, Knox concluded eight successful years as dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Throughout his tenure as dean, Knox demonstrated a special interest in international education. He and his wife, Lynne Taylor Knox, have personally established undergraduate study-abroad scholarships and were inducted into Virginia Tech’s Ut Prosim Society for their efforts. Knox established strategic partnerships with the Academy of Architecture of the Università Svizzera Italiana, the University of Stuttgart, and the Politecnico di Milano. He also initiated a cross-college program with Outreach and International Affairs to help faculty develop international collaborative relationships with their peers at universities abroad.

"Paul is ideally suited to guide the university forward in its ever-increasing international presence for the benefit of our students. With the international experiences they enjoy at Virginia Tech, our students have the opportunity to enter the working world as global citizens. Virginia Tech is dedicated not only to providing an innovative education, but also to preparing our students to be contributors to worldwide society. Paul’s work as senior fellow for international advancement will propel these efforts," said Steger.

While Knox served as dean, the College of Architecture and Urban Studies became one of the top five colleges of its kind in the nation in terms of research funding; realized new records in annual giving; significantly increased the number of scholarships and awards available to students; established its first fully endowed professorship; secured funding for a building renovation and new building construction; established the School of Architecture + Design, the School of Public and International Affairs, and (along with the College of Engineering) the Myers-Lawson School of Construction; added programs and a research center at the Alexandria, Va., campus; admitted an increasingly competitive student body; and rose in national rankings. Its programs in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, public administration, and urban and regional planning are now in the top 10.

Knox received a bachelor’s degree in 1969 and a doctorate degree in 1972 from the University of Sheffield (England). He has received numerous honors and awards, including two Textbook Excellence Awards for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Text and Academic Authors Association; honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects; and a Virginia Social Science Association Scholar Award.

Knox’s new position began July 1.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.

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