was pleasantly surprised by the opportunity in September to represent the United States as a citizen diplomat building ties to universities in Uganda, where Notre Dame has a long history.
The State Department's recruited Pippenger, Notre Dame's vice president and associate provost for internationalization, to speak about a topic close to his heart: the importance of global partnerships in higher education.
鈥淚 got an email completely out of the blue in the middle of August,鈥� Pippenger said. 鈥淚n particular, they wanted me to deliver a keynote lecture, celebrating the centenary of .鈥�
Makerere University in the capital city of Kampala is one of the oldest universities in sub-Saharan Africa, predating even the independence of the nation of Uganda. Pippenger also spoke at , a Catholic institution in Nkozi, and the new in the north, where the Lord鈥檚 Resistance Army had terrorized the region.