Greg Poelzer

J. W. George Ivany Internationalization Award - Fall 2008

For almost 20 years, Greg Poelzer has been an enthusiastic advocate for northern and international post-secondary education and research. His passion for northern politics and development grew out of his experience as a doctoral student at the University of Alberta where he taught political science in aboriginal social work programs. In 1991, he spent four months in Siberia working in remote Indigenous communities, and has been to Russia more than 20 times since. Prior to coming to the U of S, Poelzer was chair of the Department of Political Science at UNBC and served as the founding chair of the first bachelor's degree program in northern studies in Canada.

In 2003, Poelzer joined the Department of Political Studies at the U of S and was appointed the inaugural dean of undergraduate studies of the University of the Arctic (UArctic), an international consortium of 110 learning institutions from the eight Arctic states. He provided visionary leadership in the development of the circumpolar studies curriculum which has grown from 66 students internationally in 2003 to more than 5000 by 2008.

This September, Poelzer was appointed interim director of the International Centre for Governance and Development where he will continue to support the internationalization of the U of S.