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Student Attends Global Conference in Abu Dhabi

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From left: Clive Dlima, a student from Mumbai, India; Salem Al-Ali, a student from Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Stephen Wright

International business major Stephen Wright traveled to Abu Dhabi (part of the United Arab Emirates) in February for an Education Without Borders conference, a meeting of 1,000 students from around the world to dialogue about global social challenges and, more importantly, to commit to positive change.

Students were treated to luxurious accommodations and entertainment by the likes of Plácido Domingo. But they also participated in serious discussions, Wright says, centered around major themes: 1) Inequitable Access to Education and Technology in a Knowledge Economy, 2) Media: A Tool for Social Impact, 3) Responding to Natural Disasters as a Global Community, and, 4) Harnessing Education and Technology to End Poverty.

Participants were charged with picking an area of interest and committing to making a difference in their own community.  Wright was inspired by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) nonprofit organization founded by Nicholas Negroponte of MIT. The program provides children in developing nations inexpensive, multifunctional laptops which provide education but also contact with the outside world.

Wright hopes to initiate a project at the Moore School to establish communications between business students and students in developing nations who are participating in OLPC.

Though only a junior at Moore, Wright has a long list of accomplishments already in his academic career, including attendance at a 2005 Business Today conference in New York City, service on the Moore Palmetto Research team, and an internship with ZF Industries, a German automotive supplier, in Gainesville, Georgia. Wright is a McKissick Scholar, a Moore School of Business Emerging Leader, and a USC Visitor’s Center Ambassador. In addition to majoring in international business, Wright is minoring in French and Chinese and carries a 4.0 GPA.

Wright will again intern with ZF Industries this summer at the company’s location in Hang Zhou, China, and then will study for one semester at Beijing University.

Gail Crouch
March 2007