(BLUEFIELD)--Dr. Sudhakar R. Jamkhandi, Director of the Center for International Understanding at Bluefield State College, has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2003 States Institute on International Education in the Schools, November 17-19 in Washington, DC. The Institute will address the gap between the increasing importance of Asia and other world regions to the economic prosperity and national security of the United States, along with most Americans' lack of knowledge of other world regions and cultures.

During the first ever States Institute on International Education in the Schools last year, 22 states sent senior-level teams. This year, over 200 policymakers, educators, and business leaders are expected to attend.

Dr. Jamkhandi, who was appointed by West Virginia Governor Bob Wise earlier this year to the West Virginia Commission on International Education, was officially invited to represent West Virginia at the States Institute conference by Mr. Jay Cole, WV Deputy Secretary for Education & the Arts.

"It is a tremendous honor to be among the group of five individuals named by the Governor to represent West Virginia at this conference," Jamkhandi observed. "The Center for International Understanding at BSC is involved in real time' foreign policy projects and the States Institute on International Education in the Schools will address a major concern-- specifically that many young Americans are significantly underinformed about international matters." Jamkhandi and the Center for International Understanding received the "2002 Cyrus R. Vance Award for International Understanding in West Virginia," presented through the Office of the West Virginia Secretary of Education and the Arts.

October 10, 2003