Rachel Aretakis

A Kentucky native has returned home after years spent abroad to be UK’s Director of Education Abroad.

Anthony Ogden, originally from Shepherdsville, Ky., started his new position this August in the Office of International Affairs. He spent the summer in Japan and the past seven years working at Pennsylvania State University as the Associate Director of Education Abroad.

“I’m coming home after 20-plus years,” Ogden said. “It’s good to be back.”

In those 20 years, Ogden has lived and traveled all over the world, including many years in Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe. He said though he was offered several other jobs, he chose UK because there is not a long history of international education at UK.

“Every UK student needs to graduate having some international understanding and that’s why I chose University of Kentucky,” Ogden said.

As the new director of the program, Ogden said he has multiple goals for study abroad.

One of his strategies is to have a diverse array of programs, but he specifically wants to increase the number of programs led by UK faculty.

Faculty-led trips consist of a UK faculty member taking a group abroad, lasting anywhere from two to eight weeks. Currently, UK has 20 programs led by UK faculty per year and Ogden said he wants to triple that number.

“We are working toward much higher goals than we have ever had,” said Ioana Cosoreanu, Education Abroad Office and Data Manager.

Cosoreanu has worked with Ogden since he came to UK and said he is a “highly motivated and a detailed oriented person.”

She said she is looking forward to seeing how their efforts help to increase the number of students going abroad.

Alla Arnold, Financial Manager of Education Abroad, said she is also eager to see how Ogden’s changes will work out.

“We all want to see high enrollment,” Arnold said.

Increasing enrollment is just one of the tasks on the list for Ogden to work on. Currently, the office is preparing for the annual Education Abroad Fair and they have been passing out flyers to students to advertise.

Ogden said he is also excited to be at UK because the system for education abroad is strong.

“I think one of the reasons why I chose to come here is because the stars are aligning here at the University of Kentucky. UK is putting their support behind international education…The systems are in place and we are moving forward,” Ogden said.

Apart from his role to encourage students to go abroad, Ogden continually works on other things related to international education.

In October, he will be traveling to Argentina where the Argentine government will show him universities so United States students will travel there. He said part of his professional role is to evaluate programs in various countries, ranging from the Middle East to the Mediterranean to Europe.

Ogden also conducts research documenting the outcomes of studying abroad. He said that study abroad for him is not just a profession because he is an “academic of outcomes assessment research.”

“Many people think study abroad is a good thing. I want to prove it,” Ogden said. His research can be found in one of his recently published books, titled “Education Abroad and the Making of Global Citizens.”

Though Ogden’s research has taken him all over the world, he said that Japan is his favorite place and has become a second home to him.

As for his first home, Ogden is settling back in and said he is excited to reconnect with Kentucky.

“I’m looking forward to introducing Kentucky to the world,” Ogden said. “And I sure want to see more Kentuckians in the world.”