Dr. Sudhakar R. “Jammy” Jamkhandi has been employed at Bluefield State University (BSU) in Bluefield, West Virginia since 1986, having come to West Virginia after ten years in Texas where he earned the Ph.D. in English at TCU and taught English at UT Arlington, UT Austin, and Austin Community College. He is a tenured professor of English and (Founding) Director of the Office of International Initiatives and President of the non-partisan non-profit, Center for International Understanding, Inc. (Princeton, West Virginia).
In March 2016, Jammy completed his five-year term on the Fulbright Roster as a Senior Specialist in Internationalizing Institutional Capacity and in March 2017, he completed his term as a peer reviewer for the Fulbright Specialist Program.
As BSU’s Director of the Office of International Initiatives (https://bluefieldstate.edu/resources/international-initiatives), Jammy is responsible for international student recruitment, integration, and retention and the internationalization of the college’s curriculum. With funding support from area civic organizations, Jammy convenes an annual Passport to the World, when 20 students receive free passports, and supports BSU student to study abroad costs. In 2019, two students studied in London and one in Japan.
His leadership was recently commended when Bluefield State University was designated a Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader by the US Department of State (https://bluefieldstate.edu/community/news-and-events/bluefield-state-college-named-hbcu-institutional-leader-fulbright-program). the US DOS). With Jammy’s guidance, Bluefield State University has hosted three Fulbright Scholars in Residence since 2009 to date, with two from Russia and one from Liberia.
Jammy was the founding editor-publisher of the semiannual journal Commonwealth Novel in English (1981-2004), which encouraged the assessment of Commonwealth Literature, and which was subscribed to by higher education institutions in 34 countries, including the major Ivy League institutions in the USA.
An ardent believer in the humanities, Jammy coordinates the annual Humanities Challenge and Agora, A Celebration of Creative Expression which brings together area high school students, the college community, and the communities in southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia.
Jammy has received approval of his bachelor’s degree in international studies by the WV Higher Education Policy Commission and permission to add this degree to BSU’s degree offerings. He is working on submitting a revised version of the MA in International Studies for approval by these entities.