MUNCIE, Ind.- Ball State University's new assistant provost for international education wants Hoosiers to understand the intricate connections between the world economy, education and Indiana's future.

William Cyrus Reed, director of the international trade division at the Indiana Department of Commerce, will assume the newly created position at Ball State on July 1.

"About a third of all jobs in Indiana are generated through international markets for goods, capital and labor, but most people aren't aware of that," Reed said. "The state has 13 overseas offices working to make connections between foreign interests and Indiana businesses, and I bring relationships from those offices and other countries with me to Ball State."

"He is exactly the leader we need to help us further develop our already strong international agenda," said Beverley Pitts, associate provost, who will become the university's provost on July 1. "It's the balance of his experience in the international business and international academic worlds that makes him so appealing to us and that sets him apart from the other three finalists."

The 46-year-old Reed not only holds his post in the state commerce department, he is also on leave from The American University in Cairo, Egypt. Reed went to the university in 1991 as an associate political science professor and is founding director of the Office of African Studies and of the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies program.

In the director's position, Reed has developed contacts with international donor agencies; made cooperative agreements with African, North American and European institutions; coordinated the development of an interdisciplinary academic program; and directed faculty and student recruitment.

"I've been a tenured faculty member and taught in small liberal arts universities, from Wabash College in Crawfordsville to the Middle East," Reed said. "I've seen how diversity in the classroom, especially international diversity, makes teaching and learning so much more rewarding, and I hope to pass on that notion."

Reed received his bachelor's degree in 1977 from the University of Notre Dame and his doctorate in 1989 from Indiana University.

He cited three key factors for his attraction to Ball State: the mission of the university's international programs as spelled out in Ball State's five-year strategic plan and articulated by Pitts and university President Blaine A. Brownell; the level of international activity among the faculty and the grassroots support for that activity throughout all the schools, particularly in the professional schools; and Ball State's top 10 ranking among doctoral-granting institutions for the number of students studying abroad.

"We have earned a reputation for our exchange and study abroad programs, but Cyrus brings senior leadership in developing business and corporate partnerships that we believe will enhance those programs by offering new experiences and by developing funding grants," Pitts said. "Cyrus' vast network of contacts in Indiana and throughout the world will benefit not just Ball State, but all of Indiana as we grow internationally."

Reed is fluent in German and describes himself as "fair" in French and "familiar" with Shona and spoken Arabic. The need to understand different cultures and languages is something he learned as a child growing up in Bloomington. Both his mother's and his father's families have lived in southern Indiana for five generations. Reed's maternal great-grandfather and great-uncle were politicians who spoke German and English on the campaign trail.

"The phenomenon of Hoosiers speaking only one language is really only 50 or 60 years old," Reed said. "This state was settled by immigrants from many different countries. Understanding what may be unfamiliar is part and parcel of who we were, who we are and who we need to be. Our survival depends upon it."

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on this story, contact Pitts at (765) 285-3716 or bpitts@bsu.edu. You can contact Reed at (317) 232-8848 or creed@commerce.state.in.us.)