United for Impact 40th Anniversary Celebration

2025 marks 40 years TIEC of connecting Texas higher education with the world. At our celebration on November 5th, we gather with our consortium colleagues and international partners for an intimate evening of reflection and festivity. Thank you for joining us to commemorate this milestone.

🗓️ Wednesday, November 5, 2025
⏰ 6:00-9:00 p.m.
📍 Station 3 | 1919 Houston Ave | Houston, TX

‍TONIGHT'S PROGRAM
6:00 Doors open
6:30 "From Local to Global" panel discussion
7:00 Recognition ceremony
7:15 Keynote fireside chat + Q&A
7:45 Refreshments
9:00 Event ends

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"From Local to Global" Panel Discussion

Bringing together leaders in higher education and international engagement, this conversation explores the intersection between education and diplomacy and how collaboration across institutions, governments, and industries shapes global connections from Texas to the world.

Dr. Sonia Feigenbaum joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2019 as the inaugural senior vice provost for global engagement and chief international officer. During her tenure, she has led the rebranding of Texas Global to reflect a broader vision for global engagement at the University of Texas and created a comprehensive virtual institutional global presence. She restructured and expanded operations to maximize growth by creating new units, including Global Engagement and Strategy, Global Initiatives and Alumni Relations, and Global Programs and Innovation.

Dr. Feigenbaum has developed and implemented major funding initiatives to support transnational research, campus internationalization events, global virtual exchanges, international internships, and publications in languages other than English. To date, Texas Global has awarded $1.8 million in grants to 18 colleges and schools at the University of Texas at Austin, working with partners in 63 countries.

Before joining the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Feigenbaum served as associate vice chancellor for international engagement and global strategies and senior international officer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). While at UNL, Dr. Feigenbaum advanced internationalization by building strategic global partnerships, enhancing globally focused academic programs for students and faculty, and increasing institutional global visibility. She led efforts to expand and better serve international scholars and students, foster greater cross-cultural engagement on campus, and secure external funding to support on-campus internationalization efforts. She also launched an initiative to expand students’ global competencies through synchronous collaborative online learning with peers across the globe; developed and implemented new scholarship modes for education abroad opportunities to expand access; and secured funding from the U.S. Department of State, the Stevens Initiative, and the Argentina and German Fulbright Commissions, among others.

Dr. Feigenbaum was also associate provost for global engagement at Brown University, director of the Hispanic-Serving Institutions and International and Foreign Languages Divisions at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy director of Public Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her extensive background in policymaking related to global initiatives spans academia and nearly 15 years of service with the federal government, where she managed budgets exceeding $250 million, as well as experience in the nonprofit sector. Dr. Feigenbaum earned her undergraduate degree in music performance (cello) and master’s and doctoral degrees in Spanish from Indiana University, Bloomington. She is a native speaker of French and Spanish, proficient in Portuguese, Italian, and Russian, and is currently studying Korean.

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Consul General Robert Hull was appointed as the Consul General of Ireland in Texas and the southern central United States in January 2022. The Consul General represents the Government of Ireland in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. From Austin, Texas, Robert and the Consulate team work to support Irish citizens, promote Ireland and Irish interests in the region, further strengthening the links between Ireland and the southern central United States.

Robert joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2008 and has served in the Embassy of Ireland in Tanzania, the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and in Ireland’s Representative Office in Timor-Leste. He was also seconded for three years from 2013-2016 to the European External Action Service, serving in the Delegation of the European Union to the Multilateral Organisations in Vienna.

Prior to taking up his post in Austin, Robert served in the Department’s Political and Reconciliation Section, in the Ireland, UK and Americas Division. His role focused on engagement work in Northern Ireland. He has also previously held positions in the Department’s Political Division and Press Office.

Robert is from Belfast and holds a Master of Arts (Hons.) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and Africa Studies, University of London and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in History from the University of Durham.

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Deneyse Kirkpatrick is the president and CEO of the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) and brings two decades of U.S. diplomatic experience from Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. She served as the highest-ranking U.S. government official to Guinea Bissau. Prior to that role, Deneyse was the senior advisor for the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State and led several initiatives advising U.S. institutions and foreign entities on international higher education.

She is also a recipient of the Civilian Army Achievement Award and the Public Diplomacy Association of America Award, as well as a member of the Board of Visitors at Howard University, The New Philadelphia Association, and a contributor to Meridian International Center.

A native of Texas, Deneyse holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University, a B.A. from Howard University in Communication, and certificates from The University of Southern California in public diplomacy and the Harvard Business School Executive Leadership Program. She is the co-author of the U.S. State Department Report, Public Diplomacy: Telling America's Story to the World, and has also published at the Atlantic Council.

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Keynote Fireside Chat

TIEC’s president and CEO, Deneyse Kirkpatrick, and board chair, Dr. Jennifer Cowley, President of The University of Texas at Arlington, take part in an engaging conversation of TIEC’s legacy and their version for TIEC’s future.

Jennifer Cowley is the first female president of The University of Texas at Arlington and the 10th overall. She is also a professor of public affairs and planning in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs.

Dr. Cowley is an advocate for public higher education and passionate about UTA's role in developing the Dallas-Fort Worth economy, society, and culture by preparing the next generation of talent.

Cowley has dedicated her career to public service through leadership roles at national research universities, where she championed student success, engaged communities, created strategic collaborations, and advanced innovation.

Before joining UT Arlington in 2022, she served as the provost and vice president for academic affairs for five years at the University of North Texas and 16 years at Ohio State University in a variety of capacities, including vice provost for capital planning and regional campuses, associate dean of the College of Engineering, head of city and regional planning, and a professor.

Prior to entering academia, Cowley worked in city government in Amarillo and College Station. She earned a Ph.D. in urban and regional science, master’s degree in urban planning, and bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas A&M University and master’s degrees in interdisciplinary studies and public administration from UNT. She is a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administrators.

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TIEC extends our warmest gratitude to our event sponsors, Studyportals and LanguageCert. Thank you for your support and for being such great partners to our consortium!