The Innovative University of Enga (IUE) has officially welcomed Professor Kate O’Neill as its new Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs. Professor O’Neill arrived on campus today and begins her role with a strong vision for the university’s academic future.

Professor O’Neill holds a PhD in Leadership and Change and brings extensive experience in academic leadership. She has previously served as Dean of the School of Business and Information at multiple institutions in the United States and abroad. Her international academic career includes teaching and administrative roles in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Japan. Notably, she collaborated with Japan’s Ministry of Education to train teachers at both the secondary and tertiary levels.

Speaking about her new role, Professor O’Neill shared her ambition to introduce globally networked courses at IUE.

“How do you run globally networked courses where faculty and a few teachers from around the world—especially in the US, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, South Africa, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, and the Netherlands—teach the same courses virtually to students here in Papua New Guinea?” she asked. “The goal is to ensure that what students learn here is internationally marketable.”

She added that she will elaborate on this concept at an upcoming seminar hosted by the University of Technology in Lae this July.

Professor O’Neill expressed her enthusiasm about joining the university community. “I’m delighted to serve in Enga and contribute to a growing university,” she said.