Larry Bell has been appointed director of the Office of International Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, replacing Michael Delaney who retired in June 2002.
Bell has been interim director since last summer while continuing to serve as director of CU-Boulder's International Student and Scholar Services office, a division of the Office of International Education. He was hired in July 2002 for that position, and has more than 25 years of experience managing international education programs at CU-Boulder, CU-Denver and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In announcing Bell's appointment, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Michael Grant said, " I am very pleased to have someone with Larry's depth of experience and leadership ability to lead this important campus office."
The Office of International Education is responsible for assisting nearly 2,000 incoming international students and scholars annually on the Boulder campus and also sends about 1,000 CU-Boulder students overseas annually through 154 study programs in 61 countries. International Education also maintains immigration services for foreign students in addition to counseling and other assistance and support for visiting faculty, staff and students.
As director, Bell will continue to handle complex immigration compliance issues and to serve as the campus protocol officer for visiting foreign university delegations.
In his previous post as director of International Student and Scholar Services, Bell was responsible for hosting students and faculty from foreign countries and for maintaining programs to provide counseling, assistance and support for international students and visiting faculty and researchers.
He has been the lead "designated school official" for CU-Boulder in its dealings with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2002 and the "responsible officer" for the campus's "Exchange Visitor Program" authorized by the U.S. State Department. He has assisted in making the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System viable on the CU-Boulder campus.
Bell also has advocated nationally for improved visa issuance for students and scholars and continued international exchanges in the wake of proposed post-Sept. 11 restrictions.
At CU-Denver, where he was director of international education from 1996 to 2002, Bell was responsible for all international education programs and for coordination of all study abroad programs for CU-Denver students.
Prior to the CU-Denver post, Bell was director of the Office of International Studies and Programs at UW-Milwaukee from 1988 to 1996 and was director of the English as a Second Language Programs at UW-Milwaukee from 1979 to 1988.