When he was awarded the highest honor for teaching, Dr. Lawrence LeBlanc teased:

“When you’re here for 36 years, you’ll win this award, too.” But in truth, it’s LeBlanc’s effectiveness as a teacher that faculty and students admire.

He channeled his own interest in international relations into developing a very popular academic program that gives students an opportunity to study the United Nations. They don’t study it from Milwaukee; they go into the heart of New York City for probably the most interesting two weeks of their lives. They meet with members of the U.N. Secretariat and with diplomats from missions around the world. The experience offers a taste of what fascinates LeBlanc.

“I want my students to see the United States as part of a larger world, understand both how this country interacts with other countries and see the contributions it makes. I want students to realize how important it is to interact with others, to travel for the enjoyment of experiencing new cultures. And I hope, I really hope, that my students will learn to think about the causes of conflict, the conditions for establishing more peaceful relations among states, and the absolute importance of diplomacy,” he says.