Dr. Hermann Viets Receives World Citizen Award
| Published: May 12, 2008 |
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Dr. Hermann Viets, president of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), has been awarded the 2008 World Citizen Award from the International Institute of Wisconsin.
The award is given annually to two individuals. Born in Germany, Dr. Viets came to the United States in 1949. After studying and working in the U.S. and abroad, he came to MSOE. Dr. Viets received the World Citizen Award because his work to promote international understanding has had a positive effect on the Wisconsin community. His integrity, diversity of experience, depth of involvement and long and short-term contributions in Wisconsin, nationally and internationally, also made him a candidate for the award.
As president of the university, he is involved in several projects and initiatives to help middle and high school students across Southeastern Wisconsin, cultural exchange programs for students at MSOE, and projects to bring more culture to the greater Milwaukee community.
Under Dr. Viets' guidance, MSOE serves as the Wisconsin affiliate for "Project Lead the Way," a national program providing engineering instruction in middle and high school classrooms. Students are exposed to engineering curriculum and are prepared to make the transition from high school to college.
Dr. Viets also was involved in starting a cross-national, intercultural exchange program at MSOE. Students have the opportunity to study abroad at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic; Lübeck University of Applied Sciences in Lübeck, Germany; and Manipal Institute of Technology in Manipal, India. In exchange, students from these universities attend MSOE for a year.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Service's Milwaukee Export Assistance Center was located on MSOE's campus. MSOE's Rader School of Business sustains a strategic partnership with the Milwaukee Export Assistance Center. The U.S. Commercial Service assists businesses throughout America in realizing their export potential. This partnership came to life with Dr. Viets' help. It provides students, alumni and members of MSOE's Business Excellence Consortium with a gateway to the Milwaukee Export Assistance Center's International Trade Specialist. Staff members have many years of experience in international markets in a wide variety of industrial sectors. They are available to provide export counseling to interested Wisconsin companies. The U.S. Commercial Service has offices in more than 100 American cities and 80 countries throughout the world.
Under Dr. Viets' guidance, the Grohmann Museum at MSOE opened in 2007. It is the home of the Man at Work art collection. Dr. Eckhart Grohmann is an MSOE Regent, Milwaukee businessman and avid art collector who donated this art collection to MSOE in 2001. He also donated the funds to purchase, renovate and operate the museum that bears his name.
As part of Dr. Viets' continuing efforts to promote international understanding, the Goethe House of Wisconsin relocated to the MSOE campus in 2008. The Goethe House has been a part of Milwaukee's history for 50 years, and serves as a German cultural and language resource.
Crediting his family and colleagues for his success, Dr. Viets said of receiving the World Citizen Award, "I am glad they considered me however, I am just one of the chain. I represent lots of other people."