Mon National University and Purdue Fort Wayne sign memorandum of understanding

Purdue University Fort Wayne Chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer signed a memorandum of understanding with Mon National University Chancellor Pon Nya Mon on Wednesday morning that was technically decades in the making. Fittingly, the event took place in the International Ballroom at Walb Student Union.

Founded in 2022, Mon National College is located in Mawlamyine, Myanmar, and has an enrollment of 300 students. The Mon are an ethnic group and mostly live in the Mon state in Myanmar.

Under the agreement, the two institutions will take part in student and faculty exchanges, shared research, and other collaborations, according to Mary Encabo Bischoff, Teaching English as a New Language program director and clinical assistant professor of linguistics. She and Shannon Bischoff, director of PFW's Three Rivers Language Center in the School of Education, have worked with Fort Wayne's Mon population for approximately 10 years, and with the Mon people in Myanmar and Thailand for the past five.

Pon Nya Mon graduated from IPFW in 1999 with degrees in business and political science. Mon said he was the first member of his people to emigrate to Fort Wayne on April 1, 1993, suggesting that date is easier for him to remember than his birthday.

"When I arrived, I could see the trees changing, and that gave me hope," Nya Mon said. "Now Fort Wayne is my second home."

Nya Mon said he returns at least once a year to check on a business he owns and visit friends.

PFW is the first U.S. higher education institution to recognize Mon National College.

"This signing has made our dream come true," Nya Mon said. "It has been a long journey."

Modeled after the U.S. education system, Mon National College currently offers two-year degrees in social science, Mon study, information technology, nursing, leadership and management, mass media and journalism, and education. The university produces teachers that support 146 Mon schools and 30,000 students. There are plans to expand to offer four-year degrees.

Another alumna in attendance Wednesday morning was Kelli Odhuu, a 1992 graduate with degrees in English and secondary education, who now works for the U.S. Department of State as a regional English language officer. She attended to observe the ceremony and speak with those involved from both universities.