Larry Gales retires from Lindner International Programs

Larry Gales, academic director of the International Programs office in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, retired at the end of July after 31 years at the University of Cincinnati and 22 years in that position.

When he arrived at UC in 1988, the college had no international education programs. Today, LCB sends more than 700 students abroad each year to 36 countries. The college offers undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in international business and has student and faculty exchange agreements and dual degrees with 15 partner universities worldwide.

Hired as an assistant professor of organizational theory, Gales saw his career take an unexpected turn in 1997, when Associate Dean Ralph Katerberg hosted two visitors from the Toulouse Business School interested in partnering with LCB. At the time, Gales served on the graduate programs committee.

He volunteered to develop a graduate study abroad program at Toulouse, working with Susan Sadlier, the administrator who managed what was at the time the college’s only international partnership. That partnership ­with another French school, École Supérieure de Commerce de Nantes Atlantique in France, offered a summer study abroad program for Lindner undergrads and semester abroad opportunities for ESC Nantes Atlantique students at UC. 

“It was a one-week program for MBAs,” Gales remembers of the graduate program he and Sadlier created at Toulouse. “We had no idea how many students would be interested. We thought maybe we’d get 15 or 20. We got 59.”

Not knowing the logistical problems they could face, they took all 59 of those grad students to France the next spring. The program included company visits and cultural activities and became the basic model for the college’s short-course, faculty-led programs for both undergrads and graduates.

As the college’s study abroad offerings multiplied, Gales and LCB faculty worked to develop program format and content as well.

Originally, the trips stood alone as quarter courses. Gales recalls, “The model at the time was, that was the course itself, the time they spent in-country,” with just a few prep sessions beforehand. Now the programs are incorporated into semester courses, with a minimum of seven classes prior to travel. Faculty use international experiential learning to help students master specific course content.            

The programs are integrated more closely into degree programs as well, with dual-duty topics that fulfill requirements both in subject majors and in international business. Examples are a graduate luxury marketing program in Italy or an undergraduate supply chain management program in Chile.

Topics continue to evolve as new trends in business arise and as LCB sets its sights on new regions. Gales cites a new program in Ghana that Charles Appeadu in Finance and Prince Ellis of UC Clermont are developing, where students will work with small entrepreneurial groups. A development grant from the UC International office supports that program. Gales hopes to see more programs to the Middle East next.

The college has also added cultural competence programs for freshmen and sophomores. These general courses introduce students to international education, emboldening them to try further opportunities like a semester abroad or an exchange.

Moving beyond study abroad, LCB began to develop articulation agreements in the mid-2000s. These agreements allow students enrolled in partner programs around the world to earn degrees at UC in their final one or two years of study. The first undergraduate agreements were with early partners Audencia (formerly ESC Nantes Atlantique) and Toulouse. An MS in finance with Xiamen was the first graduate agreement. During his tenure, Gales worked to develop agreements with more than 20 universities around the world.

Some of those universities, including Beijing Jiaotong University, Chongqing University, and the University of Quebec at Montreal, are now university-wide partners. Gales had a hand in that evolution as well. He was appointed by then-Provost Santa Ono as UC’s China area representative and has since served with UC International’s China Strategy Group from its formation in 2012. The group is one of the seven regional groups of faculty, administrators and community advisors that help guide the UC International office in the university’s strategic globalization.

Another of Gales’ legacies to Lindner and UC is the international business degree program, which he was instrumental in developing. Since the subject crosses academic departments, it needed strong advocacy. Originally an “orphan” track that students could take as a double major, it is now the third largest major in LCB, after marketing and accounting.  Gales taught some of the core courses.

The featured image shows Gales in front of a street art mural of the cityscape in Valparaiso, Chile.