During the summer of 2018, President Douglas Lee thought he might go to the beach.

Instead, he went to Michigan, South Korea, France and California.

While students were enjoying their summer, Lee said he was working to expand Waynesburg University’s reach and reputation across the globe.

Lee said he was preparing for his family vacation when he was invited to attend a conference in Michigan, to hear what different foundations are doing to facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation. He enjoyed about 12 hours of his family’s week-long vacation before flying out for business.

Almost immediately after the Michigan conference, Lee flew to Seoul, South Korea, to visit Hannam University, a fellow college in the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities [APCU].

Hannam funded his travels so that he could meet with several representatives and presidents from the APCU, all interested in building an exchange program among the institutions.

“I went, as well, looking for opportunities directly for Waynesburg University and Hannam University,” said Lee. “And how our faculty and students can develop a program that might benefit all of us.”

Hannam University is located in the town of Daejeon, which Lee said has the “reputation of being the Silicon Valley of Asia.” While he was there, Lee was given a tour of different technology companies, and was “struck” by the technology being developed, the architecture, and the general atmosphere of innovation in South Korea. He said that in one tech company, he was taken into a room where he saw his own reflection on the screen, but on the screen, he could interact with a digital environment and characters.

“Experiencing that country, it was really amazing and interesting how good the people are, how ambitious and productive they seem to be,” he said.

Lee was thrilled by the opportunity for Waynesburg students to learn from Hannam’s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.

“Partnering with colleges there that can help give our students and faculty that kind of experiences and help broaden perspectives and ways of thinking would be beneficial,” he said.

Lee is still working on the budding partnership with Hannam. At this point, he said, he is in the process of finding funds to set up a strong exchange program between the two institutions.

After briefly returning home from Asia, Lee then flew to France, to visit the town of Courmont and participate in a memorial service to commemorate the “Rain Day Boys,” 18 soldiers from Greene County who died during a battle in World War I.

“It was just a moving event,” Lee said. “Just thinking about the price our young men paid to end a war that was causing such misery and really try to ensure the principles of democracy.”

After the ceremony, Lee returned home, again, briefly, before traveling to Sacramento, California. There, he met with some of the university’s supporters.

Lee said that he usually doesn’t do this much traveling for the university in the summers – especially not in a 45 same 45-day span, crossing multiple time zones in the process. But even though he didn’t spend much time at the beach, he is glad for the opportunities presented to Waynesburg as a result.

“The whole point of the travel is to continue to promote the university, to promote awareness of the university and help to continue to grow our reputation and connections,” he said. “Knowing that the requirements of the job market and society in general are changing so quickly, how do we develop the best possible programs that our students can have?”

Now that the summer is over, Lee said he is elated to be around students again.

“I would just go back to how much I enjoy and appreciate the students that we have here and how inspiring they are to me and how much hope they give me for the future,” said Lee. “And the opportunity to just play a role in helping them prepare for the world that they’re going to face is so meaningful to me and so fulfilling to me.”