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2024 Recipients

2024 International Awards: Jonathan Choti

MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Education Abroad

 

Published: Tuesday, 26 Mar 2024   Author: Jonathan Gibson

 

Headshot of Jonathan Choti
Jonathan Choti

Jonathan Choti is a 2024 recipient of the MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Education Abroad, which recognizes faculty and staff who give their time, energy and creativity to the development and implementation of education abroad programs that support MSU's commitment to providing students with high-quality international education opportunities.

Choti is a teaching-focused associate professor of African Languages and Cultures in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures. He teaches Swahili language and courses focused on African cultures, particularly social customs, livelihoods, gender/sexuality issues, and technology. Choti also directs a summer education abroad program known as "Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania".

With research interests concentrated on Bantu languages, second language education, and DEI in education, Choti co-authored a book in 2022 titled "Descriptive and Theoretical Approaches in African Linguistics: Selected papers from the 49th Annual Conference on African Linguistics". He is the president of the African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) and has served in executive boards of the Association of Contemporary African Linguistics (ACAL) and the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLTCL).

Choti's accomplishments include several awards, grants, and fellowships, including Mid-Michigan Spartans Quality in Undergraduate Teaching Awards, Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship, Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant, Network for Global Civic Engagement Grant, Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship (CADFP), Mozilla's Responsible Computing Challenge Grant (RCC), Lilly Teaching Fellowship, AAP's Transforming Institutions Strategic Partnership Grant, GenCen's Strategic Partnership Grant, and MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Education Abroad. 

Choti holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from MSU, as well as an MA in English Language and a BA in English and Swahili Linguistics from Egerton University in Kenya.

 

“Global engagement is important to me because it enables me to teach my students through real-life and hands-on experiences that promote intercultural understanding and the creation of global citizenships.” - Jonathan Choti

 

Choti was nominated by Leo Zulu, associate professor of Geography and interim director of the African Studies Center. "His passion and energy for educating students about Africa through experiential learning has been pivotal in the [Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania] program's success," said Zulu.

 

2024 Award Recipients

 

Headshot of Edward Walker

Edward D. Walker

University Distinguished Professor, Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology


College of Natural Science

 

Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs at MSU

Headshot of Yadu Pokhrel

Yadu Pokhrel

Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering


College of Engineering

 

John K. Hudzik Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs

Headshot of Jing Wang

Jing Wang

Ph.D., Physics (1999)


Cofounder and Chairman, FinTell Inc.

 

Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award

Headshot of Lei Chen

Lei Chen

Ph.D., Statistics (1997)


Managing Director, Head of Fraud Risk for Lending and Fraud Data Science for the Consumer and Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase

 

Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award

Headshot of Peter Lemmer

Peter Lemmer

Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Counsel


GreenStone Farm Credit Services

 

Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contributions to International Understanding

Headshot of Katie Carline

Katie Carline

Ph.D., History (2023)


College of Social Science

 

Gill-Chin Lim Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Global Studies

Headshot of George Bird

George W. Bird

Professor Emeritus, Department of Entomology

 

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

Special Recognition Award for Promoting International Understanding

Headshot of Callisto Rakhmatov

Callista B. Rakhmatov

Global Network Specialist


College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

Charles A. Gliozzo International Award for Public Diplomacy

Headshot of Rochisshil Varma

Rochisshil Varma

President, International Students Association

 

Undergraduate student, College of Engineering and Honors College

 

Homer Higbee International Education Award

Headshot of Ishwari Kapale

Ishwari Kapale

Vice President, International Students Association

 

Undergraduate student, College of Engineering

 

Homer Higbee International Education Award

Headshot of Mary Hennessey

Mary Hennessey

Past Director, Volunteer English Tutoring Program

 

International Studies and Programs

 

Homer Higbee International Education Award

Headshot of Gail Vander Stoep

Gail A. Vander Stoep

Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Community Sustainability

 

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Education Abroad

Headshot of Jonathan Choti

Jonathan Choti

Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures


College of Arts & Letters

 

MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Education Abroad

Headshot of Lisa Tiemann

Lisa Tiemann

Associate Professor, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences


College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

 

Carl K. Eicher International Development Award