'Dimeji Togunde, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Global Education
& Professor of International Studies
Spelman College
350 Spelman Lane, SW, Box 343
Atlanta, GA 30314
Office: 404-270-5680
Email:
Dtogunde@Spelman.edu
Dr. ‘Dimeji Togunde serves as vice provost for global education and professor of international studies at Spelman College. His roles include providing leadership for the design and implementation of the College’s Strategic Planning on campus internationalization (2017-2022) and the institutionalization of the recently concluded and successful Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP 2016), also known as Spelman Going Global!, which is the centerpiece of the College’s reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC).
Serving as Spelman's Chief International Officer
In his capacity as the College’s chief international officer, Dr. Togunde provides guidance and direction for all of the College’s global initiatives. As the focal point of contact for information about Spelman’s global activities, he is responsible for building/strengthening strategic international partnership engagements aimed at enhancing student international exchanges, faculty and students’ research, and students’ global learning experiences. Reporting directly to the Provost, he oversees the Office of Semester Study Abroad, Cultural Orientation program, G-STEM Program, Asian Studies Program, International Affairs Center, International Student Services and Programming, and all study abroad programs directed by faculty and staff. Dr. Togunde also leads the assessment of the College’s internationalization initiatives and collaborates with academic departments to encourage greater awareness of and involvement with the realities of globalization.
With more than two decades of leadership experience in the development and implementation of strategic planning on campus internationalization, Professor Togunde’s internationalization philosophy is anchored on shared vision and building consensus. He recognizes that it is imperative for students and faculty to be knowledgeable about global issues and to acquire the skills they will need to navigate the diverse global cultural landscapes so they can function effectively as global leaders.
Making Global Education a Priority
Dr. Togunde’s leadership has been recognized as pivotal to rallying the Spelman Community to embrace the value of global education and in creating a culture of global learning that is so fundamental to Spelman education. His leadership has produced reputational gains for Spelman College as a hub for global thinking and practice through several awards that include the 2017 Senator Paul Simon award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA; Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion in International Education (EDIIE) from Diversity Abroad Network in 2018; and the Generation Study Abroad Seal of Excellence from the Institute of International Education (IIE) in 2019.
Moreover, Spelman has jumped in national ranking (IIE’s Open Doors Report on study abroad) from #31 to #15 among the baccalaureate institutions sending the highest number of students abroad in 2020. Recently, in September 2021, the US News & World Report recognized Spelman among the institutions having a stellar study abroad program (ranked #33) in the nation.
A thought leader and scholar-practitioner in international education, Professor Togunde routinely presents papers and serves as convener/chair of several sessions at many international education annual conferences, including Forum on Study Abroad, NAFSA: The Association of International Educators, Diversity Abroad Global Inclusion Annual Conferences and AIEA (Association of International Education Administrators). Dr. Togunde also serves as an advisor and consultant to several international organizations and sits on Global Studies Advisory Board, Atlanta Global Studies Center External Advisory Board, CAPA (The Global Education Network) Academic Advisory Board, The Institute for the International Education of Students (IES Abroad) Academic Council, Japan-US Friendship Commission Committee Advisory Board on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Program Steering Committee for Japan Summer Institute, and on the Board of Directors of the International Student Exchange (ISEP) Study Abroad. Previously, he served on the advisory boards of Diversity Abroad Network, The Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA) National Executive Committee (NAC) Advisory Board and Diversity & Democracy, a publication of AAC&U. Dr. Togunde is a member of Spelman College’s Leadership Council.
Prior to joining Spelman College in 2011 as the founding Dean of the Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education, Dr. Togunde spent 15 years at Albion College in Michigan, where he held the John S. Ludington Chair in the Social Sciences as professor of sociology and served as chair of the Department of Anthropology/Sociology; director of Ethnic Studies Program; interim director of International Studies Program; director of faculty-led program on immigration to El Paso and Ciudad-Juarez, Mexico; and chair of global studies curriculum.
A recipient of several awards on teaching and scholarship and other prestigious awards including the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Cornell University’s SAGE Graduate Dissertation Fellowship, Cornell University’s Institute for African Development Fellowship and Research Fellowship by the Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Professor Togunde received both his Bachelor and Master’s degrees in demography and social statistics from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, and a Ph.D. in Development Sociology from Cornell University.
Recent Publications on Internationalization
Togunde, D. and Charles, H. (2022). “Universalizing Internationalization at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Through Virtual Learning”. Chapter 4 in Bista, K. and Pinder, A, (eds). Reimagining Internationalization and International Initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (pp.63-72). Palgrave MacMillan
Charles, H. and Togunde, D. (2022). “What Counts as Internationalization and For Whom: Comprehensive Internationalization at Historically Black Colleges and Universities". Chapter 3 in Bista, K. and Pinder, A, (eds). Reimagining Internationalization and International Initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (pp.45-60). Palgrave MacMillan.
Togunde, D; Lewis, A. and Fall, R. (2021). “Practical Ways to Decolonizing Education Studies Majors and Global Learning at Spelman College”. In Colon, C., Gristwood, A. and Woolf, M. (Eds.), In Empires of the Mind? (Post)colonialism and Decolonizing Education Abroad. Chicago, IL: CAPA: The Global Education Network Occasional publication No 9.
Charles, H. and Togunde, D. (2020). “HBCUs, Internationalization and Re-envisioning the Post Pandemic Institutional Landscape” In International Educator (NAFSA: Association of International Educators, December 2020 Edition 1.
Togunde, D., Crosby Brown, D., Phillips Lewis, K. & Fall, R. (2019). "Curricular model for facilitating intercultural competence development for student learning abroad at Spelman College." Published by Diversity Abroad Network September 12, 2019.
Togunde, D., & Fall, R. (2019) "Success in Campus Internationalization at Spelman College: Lessons for Other Institutions". In Colon, C., Gristwood, A. and Woolf, M. (Eds.), Borders, Mobility, and Migration, (pp. 169-181). Chicago, IL: CAPA: The Global Education Network Occasional publication No 8.
“Spelman Going Global: Developing intercultural Competence through International travel Experience” (with Rokhaya Fall) in Intercultural Competence in Higher Education: International Approaches, Assessment and Application, edited by Darla Deardorff and Lily Arasaratnam-Smith; Rutledge (2017).
Enhancing Global Research and Education (G-STEM) at Spelman College" in STEM and Social Justice: Teaching and Learning in Diverse Settings, A Global Perspective, edited by Cheryl B. Leggon and Michael S. Gaines; SPRINGER (2017).
“The Spelman Model for Enhancing Global research in STEM Disciplines” (with Kai McCormack et al;) in IMPACT (Arcadia University Experience Abroad) 2015.