Shah, who is tied for the most all-time nominations among all UD study abroad faculty, was recently named the 2023 Faculty Director of the Year. To celebrate this accomplishment, Shah was honored at the Facul-Tea Time event on May 16 in the Faculty Commons, along with professors Bill Deering and Suresh Sundaram, who were named the 2022 and 2024 recipients, respectively.
At the awards ceremony, Director of Study Abroad Matt Drexler applauded the innovative and comprehensive learning experience that makes Shah’s study abroad programs stand out most to students and staff. He said that if he were to study abroad, he would choose one of Shah’s programs.
“Ismat leads one of the programs that I’m dying to attend someday,” Drexler said. “A mix of science, history and culture, Ismat takes students on truly unique and perspective-building programs. He somehow manages to link things like Greek and Turkish history and culture with a trip to Geneva to watch atomic particles collide in one of the world’s most advanced physics research centers.”
Shah intentionally fits energy, materials science and history into one study abroad program, giving students exposure to multiple fields within the Department of Physics and Astronomy (College of Arts and Sciences) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (College of Engineering).
“I deliberately try to combine all these subjects so students get a much better understanding of the nexus of energy, environment and history,” Shah said. “European history, being much longer and more complex than ours, serves as a great background for my courses. I see students come back with a totally different perspective on energy and the environment, ready to take their own global responsibility toward these critical issues.”
Since 2003, when Shah led his first cohort to Bremen, Germany, he has directed 23 programs based in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Turkey, Portugal, Switzerland and Greece. In addition, he often arranges group visits to sites in neighboring countries and cities. For instance, he led excursions to North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Paris and Milan during his program in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Shah has never gone to the same country or university two years in a row.
“Changing locations involves more work, but I get to explore new places,” he said.
Shah relies not only on CGPS support but also on the connections he builds with international universities to develop a new experience each year.
“They love the idea of 20 United States students visiting and living on their campus for one month,” Shah said. “The daily interactions between the foreign faculty and students are priceless. Personally, I would never direct a program where we are not based in a university.”