Get to Know Samba Dieng

LSU’s Senior Internationalization Officer and Executive Director of International Programs

05/20/2021
BATON ROUGE - 2021 brought a new face to LSU, new Senior Internationalization Officer and Executive Director of International Programs Samba Dieng. Dieng, who is originally from Senegal, brings more than 12 years of experience working with international programs.

“I hope to raise LSU’s international profile in teaching, research and service missions that align with today’s global challenges, which are articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” Dieng said. “Student learning is at the heart of comprehensive internationalization. So, my goal is to avail international opportunities to all students, regardless of their backgrounds, so they can graduate with the skill sets needed to live, thrive and make an impact in today’s globalized world.”

Dieng said he comes from a very modest background in West Africa and pulls from his own personal experiences.

“As a former international student, I have a unique vantage point in terms of the needs of international students and scholars, and how they should be supported while at LSU. I’ve had my own share of struggles and failures both as a student and a professional in this field, so I am really at an advantage here in terms of support and ways to integrate the international community to our university,” Dieng said. “Finally, international education in the United States gave me a wealth of opportunities and allowed me to better understand the world. So, this is also extremely helpful in terms of outbound student mobility and the importance of study abroad participation.”

Prior to joining LSU, Dieng served as the director of international students at two other institutions.

“I worked on attracting the best and brightest minds from all over the world, but I spent a good chunk of my time in Sub-Saharan Africa. I am proud of all my accomplishments but my work on student mobility and trying to attract the best minds stands out, especially when I was able to avail opportunities to African students from very modest backgrounds,” Dieng said. 

In his role in International Programs, he’s focused on making sure the campus shares in the responsibility to ensure LSU students have opportunities to engage with the world, as well as highlighting the program on a global scale.

“With strong collaborations on campus and across the institution, we can begin telling our story to the world and establish an international footprint in regions that strategically align with the university’s mission in teaching, research and service. We must be ambitious about this process and LSU already has a strong history of international engagement. There is an African proverb that says, ‘For as long as the lion does not have a storyteller, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter,’” Dieng said. 

In his outreach to students across the world he reminds them to dream big.

“There is always a way out, although it may not look like it. Take your education seriously and strive to be better, always and every day. Believe in yourselves and dream big. If I can do it, you can too,” Dieng said.

 

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Contact Rachel Holland
LSU Media Relations
rachelsp@lsu.edu