Founding faculty member of Kosovo campus retires

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Julia Norrgard

Julia Norrgard, one of the original faculty members of RIT’s American University in Kosovo, retired at the end of last semester. She joined the university in 2004, a year after RIT opened it in Pristina in an effort to help Kosovo rebuild after the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

“Frankly, I have done about everything there is to do there from teaching European history, military history, international communication and freshmen enrichment,” she said. “I have been involved in almost every committee and some public relations work. The experience of being on the ground floor of a new university is something hard to explain, but so exciting. There was a lot to do and it was a wonderful challenge.”

She’s retiring because people 70 and older cannot teach in Kosovo, she said.

She said she will miss her colleagues and friends, “but above all, the students and the privilege of teaching and mentoring them. Hopefully about a thousand Kosovar graduates no longer hate history and, more importantly, can evaluate what they read and are told more critically.”

Jim Myers, associate provost of International Education and Global Programs, called her “an outstanding member of the faculty and mentor to generations of students. Although she will be missed, she will continue to be a valued friend to many faculty, staff and students at both the Kosovo and Rochester campuses.”

A scholarship fund has been established in her name. “That really made me happy,” she said. “The school is an extremely important educational experience for young Kosovars. They are truly the future of this new country. In my opinion, it is a crucial factor for its future. There is nothing else on the same level.”

Norrgard plans to return to the U.S. and look for adjunct positions to teach history and English to immigrants, and enjoy her children and grandchildren.