The Visiting International Professional Program (VIPP) at Michigan State University (MSU) is delighted to welcome the 2025 German Fulbright Summer Institute to campus July 12 – August 2, 2025! Thirty Fulbright undergraduate students from across Germany will undertake a three-week immersive intercultural exchange program with collaborative projects.
The Institute will expose the students to academic life and study in an American university through a number of distinct but interrelated curricular courses. These are Intercultural Communication and Leadership, American Culture and Society, and Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Case studies, group discussions and hands-on collaborative projects are designed to enable students to gain new knowledge and skills as well as to practice in group settings. The program will also take the students to visit some of the most iconic cities and sites in the state including the Michigan Capitol building, Lake Michigan, the Ann Arbor Arts Festival, and the city of Detroit, just to name a few.
Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans work to advance the common good with uncommon will. The nation’s pioneer Land Grant university, MSU began as a bold experiment that democratized higher education and helped bring science and innovation into everyday life. Today, MSU is one of the top research universities in the world, on one of the biggest, greenest campuses in the United States. MSU is the largest residential college in the U.S. and is home to a diverse community of dedicated students, scholars, athletes, artists, scientists, and leaders. Read more about MSU and the state of Michigan.
Students will be awarded the German Fulbright Summer Institute certificate as well as an MSU VIPP certificate upon successful completion of the program.
This program is sponsored by Fulbright Germany.
Students in the German Fulbright Summer Institute will participate in a full daily schedule of classes taught by MSU faculty, guest lectures by distinguished speakers, field trips around the state, networking events, and cultural enrichment activities.
The Global Business Networking Event is hosted by the Visiting International Professional Program, the German-American Business Council (GABC) of Michigan, and the International Business Center (IBC) of the MSU Broad College of Business. Part of the German Fulbright Summer Institute, the event is a casual networking gathering for MSU faculty, staff, representatives of Michigan businesses and government, and students to engage with each other and find mutual interests and potentially lay the foundations for future collaborations. It is our hope that this event will greatly enrich all participants, with opportunities for students, faculty, and state business leaders to learn about the business climate in Michigan, professionally engage with one another, experience diverse cultures, and form lasting contacts. The Global Business Networking Event will feature remarks by speakers representing the various participating organizations.
Course Objectives (CO):
Learning Outcomes (LO):
At the end of this course students will be able to:
This course serves as an introduction to how critical thinking drives entrepreneurship and innovation, and how entrepreneurship can thrive in the conditions of fast-changing global and interrelated local economies, while making positive impact to communities. The course is task and project-driven, so students practice critical, innovative, disruptive and entrepreneurial thinking throughout the course. Teamwork with students from different academic and cultural backgrounds will connect the intercultural communication learning experience and encourage collaborative learning and cultural exchange.
Learning Outcomes:
Course Objectives (CO):
Learning Outcomes (LO):
Students who complete this course successfully will be able to:
See the "Instructors & Speakers" tab to learn more about each guest speaker.
Constitutional Law and the American Presidency
Speaker: Professor Brian Kalt
Learn about current events in American politics through the lens of the U.S. Constitution. Professor Brian Kalt is a constitutional law scholar who researches structural constitutional law, especially provisions concerning the presidency, including elections, impeachment, pardons, and the 25th Amendment.
Intercultural Communication and Leadership - A Conversation with Global Executives
Speakers: Henry Julicher, Werner Happenhofer, Margi Fox, Marc Rosenmayr, and Nirad Pandya
Being the heart of the U.S. automotive industry, Michigan attracts the most talented engineers, designers, and leaders. Meet some of the industry’s top executives, all of whom have studied, worked and lived in multiple continents and countries, and are leading diverse teams to success in some of the most challenging business environments. Listen to their stories and get inspired.
Entrepreneurship and Social Good
Speaker: Faris Alami
Social entrepreneurship is a process of individuals, startups or entrepreneurs develop and fund solutions that directly address social issues. Social entrepreneurship has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. It is possible to make profit while doing good with your business. Meet one fascinating Detroit-based social entrepreneur and hear his journey from a refugee to businessman, published author, mentor, and more.
Students will live on campus in Owen Hall, located in MSU's River Trail Neighborhood. This dormitory is ideal for students who desire a living environment conducive to study. Read more about Owen Hall and take a virtual room tour.
Room Features:
Building Features:
The campus of Michigan State University is located in East Lansing on the banks of the Red Cedar River, and comprises a contiguous area of 5,200 acres. Built amid virgin forest, the campus opened in 1855. Today MSU's campus is home to 538 buildings.
To see more of MSU's beautiful campus, check out this virtual tour, featuring many short video clips and stories of buildings and landmarks. Use the MSU interactive map to find various locations on campus, and read about campus safety.
Michigan State University Spartans work to advance the common good with uncommon will. The nation's pioneer land-grant university, MSU began as a bold experiment that democratized higher education and helped bring science and innovation into everyday life. Today, MSU is one of the top research universities in the world and home to a diverse community of dedicated students, scholars, athletes, artists, scientists, leaders.
The MSU campus is very large, and riding a bike is a great way to get around. Bike rentals are available on campus through the MSU Bikes Service Center. Learn how to rent a bike at MSU. You can even reserve your bike online prior to your arrival!
Professor Ross Chowles is professor of practice in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University where he teaches branding, the creative process, how to create commercial video, and ideation techniques. Chowles is co-founder of the Jupiter Drawing Room in Cape Town, Africa’s most awarded independent advertising agency. Chowles and his agency have received numerous awards from South African and international organizations, including Clio, Epica, and Cannes. In 2015, Ross was appointed to the international board of the One Club for Creativity and has since had the privilege of judging all over the globe, from Canada to South Korea and China.
Dr. Anjam Chaudhary is the diversity, equity and inclusion program coordinator at MSU International Studies and Programs. With more than 10 years of national and international experience in academic and administrative education and a passion for intercultural communication competence, Chaudhary brings a multicultural and multilingual perspective to this new position. Most recently she served in professional development and graduate recruitment at Central Michigan University’s Sarah R. Opperman Leadership Institute, where she developed and facilitated leadership workshops and conferences on diversity and interculturality. Prior to that, she was the faculty-led program coordinator in CMU’s Office of International Affairs. Chaudhary earned her PhD in education, interculturality and student development from Central Michigan University, and she also holds a master’s degree in integrated communications, advertising and public relations from Florida International University; a certificate in advertising and global communications from Berlin’s Institute of Marketing and Communications; and a bachelor’s in South Asian studies from the National Institute of Asian Languages and Cultures.
Dr. Tehmina Pirzada is an Assistant Professor of English at the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts & Humanities at Michigan State University. She specializes in the cultural constructions of Muslim girlhood and adolescence through material, visual, and digital media. Her research delves into how these identities are shaped, perceived, and represented across different cultural platforms, including literature and digital spaces, providing critical insights into global youth cultures. Dr. Pirzada's extensive experience with interdisciplinary methodologies, particularly in South Asian literatures and visual studies, positions her uniquely to address the diverse educational backgrounds and perspectives of international scholars. She has secured research grants from the Foreign Ministry of Germany, Texas A&M University, Maynooth University, the Mellon Foundation, and the Qatar Foundation.
Brian C. Kalt is Professor of Law & Harold Norris Faculty Scholar at Michigan State University College of Law. Professor Kalt teaches Tort and Administrative law and is an expert in constitutional law of the presidency, presidential pardons, impeachment, succession and the 25th Amendment. Before coming to MSU College of Law in 2000, Kalt was a law clerk for the Honorable Danny J. Boggs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, and an associate at the Washington D.C. office of Sidley Austin. Professor Kalt's research focuses on structural constitutional law and juries. He has appeared numerous times on national television, and has written for the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic, among many other publications. His law-review article on the impeachment of ex-presidents was cited by both sides’ lawyers during the second impeachment of President Trump. In addition to teaching at MSU, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Alabama and the University of Ottawa, and a visiting lecturer at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. Professor Kalt is admitted to the State Bar of Michigan and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Sixth Circuit. He earned his juris doctor from Yale Law School, where he was an editor on the Yale Law Journal.
Henry Julicher is currently Senior Manager Cargo Operations & Business Development at Avflight Corporation, and holds fifteen years of professional experience in the aviation and logistics industry. Previously Henry worked as head of Sales for Cargobase, a logistics SaaS software for shippers that is headquartered in Singapore. He has also worked as Regional Manager of Sales and Operations for Lufthansa Cargo Midwest. Henry has been long interested in an international career since high school and believed that learning German would open up professional opportunities abroad. After studying economics in college, Henry joined Lufthansa Group on a management trainee program which ultimately brought him to Germany. He believes that success is linked to attitude and motivation and that anyone can succeed with the right mindset; adding travel and experience is also key to understanding perspectives and approaches and will help broaden one's horizons and abilities. Since returning to Michigan, Henry heads the membership committee for the German-American Business Council of Michigan, a professional networking organization that builds on the strong economic, cultural and commercial ties between Michigan and Germany. He lives in Metro Detroit and is passionate about skiing, sailing and the cultural and culinary experiences Detroit offers.
Werner Happenhofer is Vice President of Goodyear Intelligent Mobility Solutions. Werner joined Goodyear in 2023 with more than 20 years of experience in organizations such as Continental, ZF, Hella and Eaton. He has an extensive background leading global teams and working directly with customers and internal and external stakeholders to build collaborative partnerships and bring new technologies and innovations to market. As vice president of Goodyear Intelligent Mobility Solutions, Werner is responsible for ramping up Goodyear’s initiatives in connected products and services, while also leading the charge to partner and invest in seed-to-growth-stage startups in emerging mobility technology. Werner holds a Master of Science degree in engineering from the Technical University of Munich.
Margi Fox is a Human Resources executive with a passion for designing, developing, and implementing solutions that enable people and organizations to achieve their potential. She has experience in global, world-class organizations across a range of industries, including manufacturing, automotive, hospitality, real estate, FinTech start-up/scale ups, and Business Consulting Services.
She has worked for international organizations based in Europe, including Germany and Switzerland, serving as a trusted partner to executive leadership for aligning the culture and human capital to the company's mission and objectives. Her areas of expertise include leadership consulting, coaching, and development; HR transformation; mergers & acquisitions; HR systems; business and HR metrics and analytics; project management; creative solutions/problem-solving; communications; and employee relations.
Margi lives in Michigan with her family and dog and has had the pleasure of traveling extensively internationally since spending a semester abroad in France during her undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University. Her family welcomed au pairs from Germany, Brazil, and South Africa into their home. She loves learning about and experiencing new cultures.
Marc Rosenmayr, Ph.D. was the Chief Technology Officer at Motherson Innovations, the global R&D organization of the Motherson Group, an international Tier1 automotive supplier with $9B annual revenue. Prior to this position, Marc was the Chief Executive Officer and held various other positions at HELLA Electronics Corp, responsible for development and operations in the Americas with 2,000 employees and $500M revenue. Marc brings more than 20 years of automotive experience in successfully leading and building global teams and has a broad understanding of intercultural collaboration based on his international background and global responsibilities. As Senior Advisor at Coventry Consulting, he provides strategic advisory services on innovation strategies, technology roadmaps, product management, future mobility solutions and open innovation engagements. Marc has a Master’s and Doctoral Degree in Electrical Engineering and is an advisory board member for four startups.
Nirad Pandya is currently Head of Strategy and Head of E-Mobility products at Vitesco Technologies, a leading supplier of automotive powertrain solutions to most of the world’s top carmakers. Over his 25-year career, Mr. Pandya has held leading roles in engineering, general management, program management and marketing at Caterpillar, Motorola and Continental. Mr. Pandya has lived in the US, Germany, China and India and has a strong appreciation for communication and leading across cultures. Mr. Pandya earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in mechanical engineering and control systems.
Faris Alami is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of International Strategic Management (ISM) since 2003, and works to develop entrepreneurial ecosystem facilitating and training immigrants and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the U.S. and abroad. Faris has partnered with incubators and accelerators globally – where he managed over 1,000 start-ups each year, and played a role in planning entrepreneurial training, talent, and international initiatives. He is a certified FastTrac Facilitator in the internationally recognized Entrepreneurial Training program through the Kauffman Foundation. In the course of his career, Faris has been a special advisor and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem expert with the World Bank, a Business Advisor with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, and a Mentor to MBA Students and Entrepreneurs globally.
Alina Morse is the CEO of Zolli Candy, which she founded when she was 10 years old. Her company sells the candy she developed: Sugar free lollipops, called Zollipops. The candy is sold online and in about 25,000 stores in the US. Alina's goal is to help educate kids about oral health care and entrepreneurship through her Million Smiles Initiative. Last year her company donated over 4 million Zollipops to kids through schools. Alina is the youngest person to be featured on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine. Alina has twice been invited to the White House. She is also currently studying finance and entrepreneurship at Michigan State University.
Paul Reiss, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, along with his friend Mike, felt that the protein offerings to fitness fans fell short of expectation. They were chalky and boring. Paul started experimenting with various recipes, using ice cream as a base. Once he got the recipe right after countless hours of research, development, and collegiate pitch competitions, Protein Pints was perfected and ready to be shared with the world in five delicious flavors. Paul dropped out of college to start Protein Pints as a full-time venture. "We want to provide everyone from athletes to everyday health-conscious individuals with a dessert that not only tastes amazing but also supports their nutritional goals." Now back at university, Paul is also CEO of a flourishing business.
Meet the MSU students who will serve as class assistants and cultural ambassadors during the 2025 German Fulbright Summer Institute.
Cheyanne SchlinkeMSU Senior
Major: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Biotechnology
My name is Cheyanne Noel Schlinke, but my friends call me Chey – pronounced as “Shy”. I am an Undergraduate at Michigan State University Majoring in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Biotechnology. I am also pursuing a minor in German Language.
In my free time I do Latin dancing – Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cha Cha, you name it – as well as long distance running, hiking, reading, sewing, and hanging out with friends. I am super excited to show the international students all the fun spots in East Lansing and on MSU’s campus! I might even show them some dance moves.
Maximilian WeitenMSU Junior
Major: Business Management
Hallo zusammen, my name is Max Weiten! I am a junior at MSU's Eli Broad College of Business, majoring in business management and minoring in international business. Originally from Ludwigsburg, Germany, I am bilingual in both German and English. I have lived in the U.S. for the past 16 years, and have traveled internationally for most of my life. My favorite foreign country to visit is Australia, due to its unique ecosystems and breathtaking beaches. My current favorite show is “Severance”, and my hobbies include dirt biking, technology, and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I look forward to this program, and hope to meet you all soon!
Henna NellisMSU Junior
Major: Graphic Design
My name is Henna Nellis and I’m from Owosso, Michigan. I'm currently going to school for Graphic Design and I’ll be going into my second year at MSU.
Outside of classes I’m a part of a few different clubs on campus including a craft club, graphic design club and the pearl project (which is a club that goes on trips to volunteer at a daycare in Chicago). I’m very happy and excited to meet everyone!
Shankho BhattacharjeeMSU Graduate Student
Program: Marketing Research and Analytics
Hi everyone! My name is Shankho Bhattacharjee, and I am an international student from India. I have two cities that I consider to be my hometowns- one is Calcutta, and the other is Gurgaon. I came to the US in 2016 to get my undergraduate degree in marketing from MSU with minors in international business, economics, and entrepreneurship. I am a graduate student in the Masters in Marketing Research and Analytics program.
I have run two startups at MSU and have been a part of our startup incubator, the Hatch. I also started a student organization that functioned as a smaller-scale incubator affiliated with our Entrepreneurship program, OptiMIze MSU, which supports socially conscious projects. During my undergraduate program, I was an Intercultural Aide (ICA) helping students navigate cultural differences and was involved with the International Students Association. During my master’s program, I co-founded the Marketing Research Association and am also a part of the Indian Students Organization.
I enjoy cooking for larger groups of people, a bit of single-player gaming, critiquing all sorts of media with friends and family, becoming an armchair historian and tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist, playing the bass abhorrently, enjoying an occasional game of tennis, and learning about different cultures.
MSU Junior
Major: German
Hello, my name is Carson Garrow and I am from the lone star state of Texas. I am studying to become a translator in both German and Portuguese here at MSU. I have taken and plan on taking other classes in other languages since it is my dream of being fluent in as many languages as possible. I have taken courses in Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Finnish and next semester will take Norwegian.
Outside of my educational life, my hobbies include playing videos games with my friends from Texas, writing, and independently learning game design. I am very excited to be able to work with everyone!
MSU Freshman
Major: German
Hi! I'm Zachary Bigelow, an MSU freshman from Ohio majoring in German at the College of Arts and Letters. I've been lucky enough to visit Germany twice in my life, including once on exchange, and I've been studying the language for nearly eight years. I enjoy reading and writing, and I often spend time just relaxing in nature. I look forward to starting this program and meeting all of you!
MSU Senior
Major: International Relations and Information Science
My name is Lance Lionquist and I am a senior at MSU, pursuing a double major in international relations and information science, with an additional minor in history. Outside of class, I am heavily involved in campus life, though I am most notably involved with the MSU Geography Club, in which I currently serve as the vice president.
In my free time I enjoy biking, photography, reading, spending time with my friends, and travel - I have been to several countries in Europe, including Hungary, where I studied abroad, though I have not yet been to Germany unfortunately. I hope to visit soon, though. I am very excited to meet everyone and participate in this program!
MSU Junior
Major: Geology
Hello! My name is Sigourney! I major in Geology at MSU and I am currently a junior. I speak German, Spanish, Chinese, and a little bit of Russian. I aspire to be a Paleontology Professor at Arizona State University and will attend their University for Graduate School. I have a dog, her name is Rio, and I enjoy music, movies, as well as attending concerts!
Isabel HsuOberlin Junior
Major: Cinema Studies
Hello! I'm Isabel, a rising junior and Cinema Studies major at Oberlin College, a liberal arts school in Ohio. Although I do not attend MSU, I did grow up in Okemos, a town situated very near to the university. I have a lot of love for the local area and for Michigan in general. Some general things I enjoy are reading, writing, swimming, painting, and, of course, movies. I am so excited to meet everyone!
Coming Soon!
2025 Global Summer School
Bolashak Program
VIPP Strategic Plan
Bold Goals Toward 2030
VIPP Program Brochure
