Ping Foundation

A Foundation for the Future

In 2004, CIEE established a permanent endowment called the Ping Foundation to honor Dr. Charles Ping. Dr. Ping is a gifted teacher and scholar, a tireless advocate for the internationalization of U.S. higher education, President Emeritus of Ohio University, and a long-time former Chairman of the CIEE Board of Directors.

The Foundation aims to serve the CIEE mission through a number of activities; advocacy for international educational exchange, research designed to advance the field of international educational exchange, funding of scholarship programs, and matching grants to support local organizations where CIEE programs operate.

One Foundation program is the Ping Doctoral Research Fellowship, where qualified doctoral students are awarded $20,000 during their dissertation writing year. Funded research themes are focused on an aspect of U.S. undergraduate international exchange, such as improvement of study abroad practices and student learning. In 2008-2009, the Ping Foundation awarded two fellowships for the following dissertation projects: “Factors that Affect American Students’ Participation in Study Abroad” and “Factors Influencing the Decision to Study Abroad for Students of Color: Moving Beyond the Barriers.”

Another important Foundation initiative is the Ping Matching Grant program. The two-fold purpose of Ping Grants is to allow local companies or organizations to carry out new activities that benefit their local communities, and enable CIEE (through its students) to give something back to host communities. As students gain valuable knowledge, skills, and insight through studying outside the U.S., they also have a way to contribute to communities located adjacent to a CIEE Study Center. Significant community projects have been completed in Amsterdam, Chile, China, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.