Margee Ensign is currently the Dean of the School of International Studies (SIS), and Associate Provost for International Initiatives at the University of the Pacific which has campuses in San Francisco (Dugoni School of Dentistry), Sacramento, (McGeorge School of Law) and the main campus located in Stockton. The School of International Studies offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in international and intercultural relations and is establishing programs in social entrepreneurship and Inter-American affairs. It is the only undergraduate program in the U.S. that requires all students to study abroad for at least a semester.

Dr. Ensign came to Pacific from Washington D.C. where she helped established a program for Tulane University focused on the study of international development which is now offered on four continents. She began her career at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. For the past decade she has worked on development projects in Central, East and West Africa, including a PEPFAR project in Rwanda. She is completing a book Rwanda called Rwanda: History and Hope, with Dr. William Bertrand of Tulane University that focuses on progress since the genocide of 1994, and that will form the basis for a PBS film.

Blog Entries by Margee Ensign

Reach for the Stars

Posted August 28, 2009 | 10:13 AM (EST)


When he flies over French Camp this week--a small town here in Northern California--he hopes some of the migrant farmers picking vegetables in the fields look up and realize they can also accomplish their own dreams, he told me a few months ago.

Jose Hernandez, son of migrant workers,...

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The Fresh Face of Immigration

3 Comments | Posted August 10, 2009 | 06:07 PM (EST)


As President Obama meets this week in Mexico with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harder, for discussions focused on drugs and violence, health issues, but primarily trade (Canada is America's first and Mexico our third largest trading partners), across America an emotional debate on immigration is...

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Narrowing the Digital Divide

2 Comments | Posted August 10, 2009 | 04:55 PM (EST)


The school of 600 students has dirt floors. There is no electricity, running water or bathrooms. The students' uniforms are old and torn. Lunch comes from the banana trees and vegetables that are grown on the school property. The teachers use small pieces of chalk to write their lessons on...

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It's All About U.S.

1 Comments | Posted May 5, 2009 | 01:11 PM (EST)


The financial crisis is all about the U.S. Day after day, hour by hour, we hear reports detailing whether the stock market is up or down, how many more people are unemployed, uninsured and dispossessed. We are living through a very serious crisis and many Americans are suffering. But what...

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Fifteen Years Ago Tonight

Posted April 10, 2009 | 10:47 AM (EST)


15 years ago tonight the President of Rwanda's plane was shot down as it landed at Kigali airport.

'We all heard the loud noise. Soon after there was gunfire. Radio Rwanda told us to stay in our houses. RTLM (the hate radio station) said that something significant had happened....

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Hope in Rwanda

Posted March 16, 2009 | 04:05 PM (EST)


Imagine the developing country with the highest proportion of women legislators, where urban and rural schools are being wired to the Internet, and where the government is committed to developing a knowledge-based economy. Remarkably, the country is Rwanda.

Rwanda -- where for 100 days death came more quickly than...

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Only in America

Posted November 14, 2008 | 02:30 PM (EST)


"The world is a different place today. This is Democracy at its best. America changed overnight. This could only happen in America." These are just some of the comments we heard early in the morning on November 5th in Kigali, Rwanda when Barack Obama was declared President-elect of the United...

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What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us

Posted October 8, 2008 | 03:39 PM (EST)


"You buy them a Rand-McNally, you meet with generals, you get a lot of flags on the stage, and you give a big speech on foreign policy to display you have some command of the world," explained Republican consultant Alex Castellanos, on a recent CNN segment. This is what it...

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It's Not About Lipstick

Posted October 7, 2008 | 10:40 PM (EST)


"It's not about lipstick", said my 86 year old mother. "We didn't fight all these years so that women could be involved in public affairs, to have a debate about lipstick. There are serious issues we should be discussing." She is right, of course.

Since Sarah Palin made her...

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