Twenty university presidents and engineering professors from Iraq visited OSU in August to learn about sustainable building and design and green energy. The Iraqi delegates came to Oregon through the efforts of OSU engineering faculty and the Michael Scott Mater Foundation. They signed a memorandum of understanding with OSU that could lead to more cooperation in the future.

A Gazette Times editorial lauds OSU's recent international student recruitment initiatives, including INTO Oregon State University and partnerships with Iraqi universities.

As many as 100 graduate and post-graduate engineering students from Iraq might soon enroll at Oregon State University.

Memoranda of understanding were signed Saturday afternoon by OSU President Ed Ray, Nabeel H. Al-A’aragi, president of Babylon University near Baghdad, and Ali Ismael Obeid Al Snafi, president of Dhi Qar University in southern Iraq. They were among seven Iraqi university presidents visiting campuses in the United States throughout the week.

Much of the meeting focused around the quality and admissions procedures of Oregon State’s College of Engineering, but the long-term goal is to expand the partnership to include advanced studies in other disciplines, as well.

An interruption in a person's college career is not unusual. Annabel Ortega, however, has persisted through five of them.

Ortega had joined the National Guard, in part, to help pay for college. Since 2000, she's been deployed overseas five times, including 18 months in Iraq.

Throughout Ortega's deployments, Brenda Sallee kept in constant contact—mostly via e-mail across multiple time zones—encouraging her and coordinating the sequence of classes she needed to complete her international business degree.

Ortega, who has three languages under her belt (Spanish, English and Arabic), finished her degree in 2008. In 2007 she completed an internship in Guadalajara, Mexico, through the IE3 Global Internships program.

Joshua Mater, an International Degree graduate, recently served an eight-month tour in Iraq. Now he is working to send engineering and business textbooks to Dhi Qar University.