Lance Matheson, associate professor of business information technology in the Pamplin College of Business, has received the 2017 Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) for his career-long commitment to internationalizing business education.

The Malone Award, a national honor sponsored by APLU and awarded annually, recognizes individuals who advance international education at public universities.

Matheson, who has been actively engaged in international education since 1998, led his first study-abroad program in 2000, to Europe. Since then, he has conducted 32 study-abroad programs on five continents and assumed leadership of Pamplin’s fall semester program in Europe.

“Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business strives to educate students as agents of global sustainable prosperity and of global community economic empowerment,” said Pamplin Dean Robert Sumichrast.

“Embracing Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission and vision for being a global land-grant university, we do so through programs that promote ethical leadership, social responsibility, innovation and entrepreneurship, and global engagement. We are honored by APLU’s recognition of Dr. Matheson’s lifelong commitment to engaging students in meaningful, experiential global learning and to advancing international education at Virginia Tech. He serves as a model for the embodiment of our institutional values.”

Matheson’s international work extends well beyond study-abroad programs. He has led service-learning programs in the Dominican Republic and Belize and taught in India in Virginia Tech’s master of information technology program.

In 2008, he served on a U.S. Agency for International Development grant to select Haitian students to attend Virginia Tech and foster closer ties with a Haitian university. And he served on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Task Force for Stabilization Operations in Iraq, where he worked alongside Iraqi scholars in developing proposals for academic cooperation.

“Dr. Matheson’s career stands as model for scholars striving to drive change not just at their own institution, but at universities across the globe,” said APLU President Peter McPherson. “His work to deepen academic and cultural connections across institutions and countries has ensured thousands of students have gained key international experience.”

APLU’s Office of International Programs leads the association’s diverse array of international initiatives. These initiatives help support campus internationalization, enhance and expand study-abroad opportunities, strengthen engagement with the developing world, and support members’ efforts to engage with partners worldwide to address global challenges.

The Malone Award honors the legacy of the late Michael P. Malone, a champion of international education and one-time chair of the APLU Commission on International Education. Malone served as president of Montana State University from 1991 until his death in 1999.