David Brinberg, a professor of marketing in the Department of Marketing in the Pamplin College of Business, has received the university’s 2018 Alumni Award for Excellence in International Education.

Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the Alumni Award for Excellence in International Education is presented annually to a Virginia Tech faculty or staff member who has had a significant impact on international education.

In 2002, Brinberg started the spring semester Marketing course in Lugano, Switzerland. More than 50 students consistently participate in this program that started with 20 students, and more than 600 students have participated since its inception.

He recently added an optional Africa experience for two weeks in East Africa’s developing countries. To date, more than $30,000 has been raised to provide scholarships for students who graduate from Bambakofi Academy, where the study-abroad students worked, and who want to attend secondary school. Based on the success of this experience, Brinberg created a second semester-long program, Creating Social Change, aimed at students campus-wide.

Forty percent of the students who study abroad through Pamplin enroll in one of these two programs. Brinberg created a LinkedIn group for his Lugano alumni, which has 400 former students.

“Dr. Brinberg has a passion for giving students a life-impacting experience abroad. Several years ago he willingly took on the trials, tribulations, and responsibilities of a second semester program abroad. He already was operating the most successful study-abroad program in Pamplin … This exemplifies his heart for getting students overseas for a meaningful education and life experience,” Reed B. Kennedy, associate professor of practice and former international programs director at Pamplin, wrote in a letter of nomination.

Brinberg has received the Pamplin College of Business Award for Excellence in International Programs three times since 2009. He also received Pamplin’s 2011-12 Award for Excellence in Outreach and 2010-11 Award for Excellence in International Outreach.

Written by Lindsey Grooms, Class of 2019

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