A UND faculty member has been named an ambassador to an international think tank – and is the first scholar representing North Dakota to do so.
Francisco Del Canto Viterale is an associate professor of Space Studies at UND, a department that was established about 40 years ago. Del Canto Viterale was chosen to serve as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Education Ambassador Program.
He says the program serves as the Council’s educational arm, which works to promote literacy of global affairs and their impacts to local communities. Del Canto Viterale also says he’s honored with the responsibility, which offers new opportunities to North Dakota and to UND.
"Number one - the connection with the council; because the relevance of these think tanks, not just in the U.S., across the world - all the resources they're providing us, that we can use in our classes or share with our students or other colleagues here at UND. And of course, to both UND and North Dakota; we are connecting with them and planning for activities, so we consider this a win-win situation."
Del Canto Viterale will begin his time on the Council next month, serving until May of next year. The cohort consists of 160 ambassadors – 80 high school, and 80 higher education faculty members.
