Dr. Robert W. and Beatrice M. Kleis created the Kleis International Study Travel Grant Program to help provide opportunities for undergraduate students in agriculture-related degree programs and majors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to participate in individualized education abroad experiences in other countries for credit towards graduation from UNL.
Dr. Kleis had a long and successful career in agricultural research and university administration. He served as Chairman of the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts (1957-1966) and later assumed this same position at the University of Nebraska (1966-1968). He also served as Associate Director for the UNL Agricultural Experiment Station (1967-1983) and Executive Director for BIFAD, USAID, in Washington, D.C. (1985-87). At the time of his retirement in 1990, Dr. Kleis was Executive Dean for International Programs at UNL. His international work took him to over 70 countries around the world where he was responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of numerous agricultural research and development programs. Dr. Kleis was the recipient of numerous honors and awards and published over 50 research papers, 200 popular publications and magazine articles and four book chapters.
The purpose of this award is to support long-term (6-weeks or longer) education abroad programming, such as a semester or full summer abroad for credit. If you are going on a short-term or CASNR based trip, please fill out the Study Abroad scholarship application at https://www.jotform.com/CASNR/saa