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Lehigh University officials recently traveled to Kazakhstan to discuss strengthening international education collaborations and fostering new strategic partnerships between U.S. and Kazakh institutions, part of Lehigh’s broader strategy of engagement with Central Asia.

Representatives from Lehigh’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) participated last fall in the inaugural meeting of the Kazakhstan-U.S. University Consortium (KUUC), which was sponsored by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

 During that meeting, officials from nearly six dozen colleges and universities discussed opportunities for strategic partnerships, joint research, seed grant possibilities, and other collaborations.

“Central Asian nations like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are an important region for U.S. higher education and an exciting opportunity for Lehigh’s international initiatives,” said Cheryl Matherly, Vice President and Vice Provost for International Affairs. “It’s an exciting region for Lehigh, and this consortium is just one example of how we’re engaging with Central Asia.

Matherly attended the inaugural KUUC Partnership Program event from Sep. 30 to Oct. 3, along with Stacy Burger, Director of Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Lehigh. They also visited several educational institutions and partner organizations in the Kazakh cities of Almaty and Astana. 

Central Asia’s strategic importance for U.S. higher education

The goal of KUUC is to strengthen existing ties and foster new strategic partnerships between U.S. and Kazakhstan institutions through the development of an innovative consortium and community of practice. The consortium includes 31 Kazakh and 36 U.S. higher education institutions.

Central Asia has been increasingly recognized as a strategically significant region for U.S. higher education. The region offers opportunities for student exchanges, academic collaborations, and workforce development, all of which can lead to a stronger U.S. presence and influence in the region, furthering both academic and diplomatic interests.

Kazakhstan in particular has significantly increased its investment in higher education in recent years, according to KUUC. It has abundant natural resources, is strategically located between Russia and China, and has the world’s second youngest population after Africa.

There has been a growing interest in study abroad programs for students from Central Asia. In 2022, more than 10,000 students from Central Asia studied in the U.S., according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). In 2023, Central Asia was the fastest-growing market for U.S. student visas, according to ApplyBoard.

More than 40,000 Central Asian students and professionals have participated in U.S.-funded exchange programs, contributing to the region’s development and deepening U.S. ties with these countries, according to the U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Kazakhstan.

Lehigh’s history of involvement with Central Asia

Lehigh’s Office of Creative Inquiry has been engaged in Kazakhstan for the last seven years. It currently has five interdisciplinary multi-year Global Social Impact Fellowship (GSIF) projects in the country.

Last year, 19 students and three faculty members traveled to Almaty to conduct fieldwork with AlmaU colleagues on projects related to indoor air quality, sustainability education, building research capacity , and exploring entrepreneurial strategies to mitigate the impact of ischemic disease caused by high-sodium diets.

Khanjan Mehta, Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry, has played a key role in designing and leading faculty development programs for professors and senior research administrators across all five Central Asian countries. His efforts include the successful Sustainability & Grant Writing Workshop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which led to a follow-up workshop in Samarkand, both hosted by the U.S.-Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN).

The ethos of Creative Inquiry also informed the U.S. Department of State-supported Shaping Tomorrow: C5+O.N.E. (Opening Networks through English) Central Asia-U.S. Regional Conference on Energy and the Environment held in September 2024. This event, hosted by the American Councils for International Education, convened approximately 150 professionals from across Central Asia to strengthen capacity and foster collaborations on environmental sustainability and the energy transition.

Collectively, these initiatives have led to the establishment of the Central Asian Researchers Network, a LinkedIn-based community spearheaded by Lehigh students and faculty. With over 1,000 members, the network serves as a dynamic platform for advancing research, fostering innovation, and strengthening academic collaboration across the region.  

"A sleeping giant"

"Central Asia is a sleeping giant—an incredibly kind, friendly, and breathtakingly beautiful region with immense untapped potential. The talent and ingenuity here are extraordinary, and we have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible," Mehta said.

"Through our deep engagement in Kazakhstan and beyond, the Office of Creative Inquiry is committed to fostering interdisciplinary research, faculty development, and social impact initiatives that empower local innovators and entrepreneurs to drive transformative change, collaborating to turn bold ideas into sustainable solutions with global relevance," he said.

Additionally, in October, the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan invited Matherly to lead a workshop for universities in the country about how to build partnerships and increase study abroad opportunities with U.S. institutions.

During that workshop, Matherly discussed the U.S. higher education system, introduced models for internationalization, explored the purpose for internationalization in context of U.S. and Central Asian higher education, highlighted best practices in international academic partnerships, and explored opportunities for study abroad and student mobility programs.

Lehigh engages in global partnerships with higher education institutions all around the world, including Central Asia. OIA’s Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives (GPSI) has signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with global partners Almaty Management University (AlmaU) and Suleyman Demirel University, both of which are based in Kazakhstan.

Lehigh faculty have also been engaged in the Central Asia region. Dinissa Duvanova, Professor in International Relations at Lehigh, received the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to research abroad in the 2017-18 academic year, during which time she taught courses in international economy at AlmaU.

Historic consortium gathering

Although the KUUC meeting in October was the first in-person gathering of the consortium, it was the culmination of 10 months of webinars and online communication.

Administered by IIE, KUUC promotes binational cooperation between U.S. and Kazakh institutions. It helps higher education institutions in both countries develop sustainable partnerships in areas of mutual interest, such as research commercialization, curriculum development, and student and scholar mobility.

Some of the main focus areas for the October event were increased understanding of university financial management systems, entrepreneurial models, and research methodologies, particularly in the STEM fields. The consortium also focused on best practices on university management, research, and commercialization models.

The event began at the Satbayev University in Almaty, with sessions about collaboration strategies like understanding university financial systems and developing research and entrepreneurship, Burger said. Later sessions were held at Narkhoz University, also located in Almaty, which offers courses in economics, business, finance, and law.

Matherly and Burger also visited Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, for further meetings about scholarship opportunities and internships for Kazakh students in the U.S. They met with key institutions and organizations like Astana IT University, L.N. Gumilev Eurasian National University, Nazarbayev University, and the Bolashak International Scholarship program.