William 'Bill' Nelson Pruitt III named assistant director for education abroad
William “Bill” Nelson Pruitt III has been named assistant director for education abroad at Virginia Tech.
Pruitt joined Education Abroad in 2009 as a program coordinator. While pursuing a doctoral degree in higher education administration at Virginia Tech, he served as a graduate assistant.
“We are delighted to welcome Bill into the office full time. His international background paired with his academic and professional interests in business and study abroad put him in a unique position to take on the assistant directorship,” said Jennifer Quijano Sax, interim director for education abroad. “His energy and enthusiasm for what he does are infectious, and we are excited to deploy these to the benefit of our students and faculty.”
In his new position, Pruitt will focus on financial aid coordination, student scholarship competitions, the needs of under-represented students, and collaboration across campus to promote study abroad.
Prior to joining Education Abroad, Pruitt was director of international affairs at Shanghai Finance University, where he spent several years working on projects including international student and faculty recruitment.
A native of Columbia, S.C., Pruitt received a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology and a Master of Business Administration degree from Winthrop University.
Education Abroad at Virginia Tech challenges students to engage with the world by providing study abroad opportunities that are academically, culturally, and personally enriching. On average, 1,200 Virginia Tech students study abroad annually. The office supports more than 50 faculty-led programs, maintains academic exchange programs with 80 universities in 32 countries, and supports Virginia Tech study centers in Switzerland and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
