Maj Fischer

Contact Maj with questions about

• Initiating or renewing international collaboration agreements
• Official Visits by delegations or individuals from abroad
• Data on various international activity at UW–Madison
• ScanDesign Foundation Fellowship Program

Biography

Maj* Fischer is the Director of External Relations for the International Division at UW–Madison. Maj is responsible for managing international engagement for the Office of the Vice Provost & Dean of the International Division. This includes coordinating agreements with foreign institutions, international visitors & delegations, alumni relations, and development team. Maj is also responsible for managing the #1 ranked Peace Corps Campus recruiting office, and directing the ScanDesign Foundation (SDF) Fellowship Program to expand US-Danish ties at UW–Madison. Maj has served in several other positions in the International Division since 1996. Maj was the founding director of the International Internship Program (IIP) from 2010-2017 and previously served as associate director of UW–Madison’s International Academic Programs (IAP) from 1996 to 2003. Maj continued her work in international education and cross-cultural exchange during her ~6 year absence from UW–Madison, when she worked internationally.

From 2003-2005, Maj served as associate director for the Peace Corps in Fiji, re-opening the program after its five-year hiatus. After Fiji, she moved half way (literally!) around the world to Copenhagen, Denmark, to work for the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). There she served first as a program director and then as the Director of Academics for Scandinavia’s largest organization hosting students from the U.S. and around the world. Among other duties, Maj spearheaded international service-learning and undergraduate research efforts at DIS.

While she has lived around the world, Maj is a proud native of Wisconsin and a “Badger” by birth; her parents met at UW–Madison as undergraduates. Maj holds an undergraduate degree (AB) from the University of Chicago and a Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) focusing on International Development and Education Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She was also a Fulbright participant in Korea, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Poland, a summer intern in Brussels, and spent a year in both Finland and Sweden as an exchange student.

*pronounced “Mai”