On June 2, 2023, members of the SEAS-based Environmental and Energy Management Institute (EEMI) met with leaders of the Romanian-American University (RAU) of Bucharest, Romania, to discuss potential joint educational and research programs. Participating from the RAU were Dr. Costel Negricea, Rector of the Romanian-American University; Dr. Lucian Botea, Vice President for Partnership Development; and Nicolae Nica, Assistant to the Rector. Also participating was Dusan Marinkovic, Senior International Trade Officer with the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
Participating from the EEMI team were Dr. Merza Hasan, former Dean of the World Bank Group Board of Executive Directors and now EEMI Distinguished Visiting Scholar; Dr. Salah Hassan, GWSB Professor and EEMI Director of Business Sustainability; Mark Pollins, EEMI Director of Food Security; Dr. Mukes Kapilashrami, EEMI Director of Operations; and Dr. Jonathan Deason, EEMI Director.
The meeting was arranged by Razvan Dumitrescu, Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, Romanian Embassy in Washington D.C., and Gabriel Popescu, International Trade Administration official in Bucharest, Romania.
At the meeting, the RAU officials explained that, since Romania joined the EU in 2007, its economy has grown tremendously. At the present time, Romania’s priorities include investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, job creation, and small- and medium-size enterprise development. The country’s economic growth has been one of the highest in the EU in recent years and its rising GDP has created a strong demand for quality education and overseas studies.
As the country has transitioned from the former Soviet influence towards European Union standards, the Romanian education sector has reformed considerably, modernizing the school curricula towards competence-based learning. All significant responsibilities for the educational strategy are concentrated within the Ministry of Education, which steers the implementation of national policies. The education system is administered at the national level by the Ministry of Education, at the central level in cooperation with other ministries (e.g., Ministry of Public Finance for financing schools) and institutional structures subordinated to the government, and at the local level by county school inspectorates.
The RAU is considered to be the most important private university in Romania and is interested in creating ties with GW by focusing on student exchanges and conducting joint research. According to OECD and European Commission reports, Romania has a strong potential for promoting entrepreneurial education that could underpin further economic and educational progress as an increasingly important member of the European Union. A GW-RAU partnership could represent an important mechanism to promote innovation and the generation of human capital in Romania and therefore that is the thrust of the potential GW-RAU partnership.
A copy of the provided at the meeting by the Romanian delegates can be seen at Romanian-American University Presentation [Note: Make link to the attached pdf file]