Galen Godbey, associate to the president for globalization at DeSales University, will be the featured speaker during a presentation at 6:45 p.m. March 24 in the Atrium at the Lehigh Valley campus in Fogelsville. Godbey will present "Global Innovation Networks and the Future of Education," during the event, which is sponsored by the Penn State Lehigh Valley Chapter of the International Business Honor Society of Sigma Beta Delta and the Lehigh Valley Business Society, in conjunction with the Penn State Lehigh Valley Global Initiatives Task Force Committee. The presentation will begin immediately following the Sigma Beta Delta induction ceremony, which begins at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Godbey currently serves as associate to the president for globalization at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. His portfolio is focused primarily upon institutional re-orientation toward the preparation of globally-engaged graduates. In this capacity, Godbey works with, and coordinates the work of, senior institutional officers, faculty, and staff to inventory, critique, deploy, and increase DeSales’ international resources and relationship capital. Godbey recently secured four years of funding under USDOE grants for business and international education, leading to six innovative missions to Peru, India, Germany, and Romania involving DeSales students, faculty, and area business leaders. In addition, he participates in targeted fundraising and legislative activities, through which he has raised millions of dollars for programs and capital construction projects.
Previously, Godbey served as executive director of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges which, under his leadership, quadrupled the level of collaborative activity, strengthening library cooperation, and developing co-operative degree programs in selected areas, faculty and student exchange, study abroad, joint purchasing agreements, professional development programs, governmental relations activities, and partnerships with business for its member institutions.
Godbey is one of the nation’s leading practitioners and students of educational collaboration. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, he earned, with a dissertation on faculty incentive systems and intercollegiate co-operation, bachelor’s degrees in history and philosophy, and received a master’s degree in speech communication, from the Pennsylvania State University. Godbey received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.