Charles (Charlie) Bankart, Ph.D.

Charles (Charlie) Bankart serves on the provost’s leadership team as KU’s senior internationalization officer (SIO), overseeing International Affairs since January 2017.

Partnering with academic and administrative leadership across the university, Charlie provides institution-wide leadership in support of university internationalization. Within the division are KU’s Applied English Center, International Short Programs, International Support Services, and Study Abroad and Global Engagement. In July of 2024, International Affairs also welcomed KU’s five area studies centers into the division. These include the Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for Global and International Studies, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the Kansas African Studies Center. 

In addition to his role as KU’s SIO, Charlie has an appointment as a courtesy assistant professor within the department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies within the KU School of Education and Human Sciences specializing in international higher education. 

Charlie joined the KU community in August of 2005 and began as a grant writer and immigration specialist for KU’s Graduate School and Office of International Programs prior to his promotion to assistant dean of International Programs in 2006. Upon the restructuring of the office in 2007, Charlie transitioned to the role of assistant vice provost for international programs and served in that role for over 10 years. His responsibilities included overseeing international grant development, developing and maintaining the university’s strategic plan for campus internationalization, coordinating programming and communication for the office, and managing the immigration support functions for international employees and visiting scholars. 

In 2012-13, Charlie established the office of International Recruitment and Undergraduate Admissions at KU while serving as interim director of International Student Services. He also served on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Board of Directors from 2011 through 2016, as president of the Alpha Pi Chapter of the Phi Beta Delta International Honorary Society in 2011, and most recently completed a term of service (2022-2024) on the Board of Directors of the International Relations Council of Kansas City, where he served as chair of the education committee. 

Before coming to KU in 2005, Charlie served for six years in the office of international programs at Indiana University (IU) where he had an opportunity to oversee IU’s international employee and visiting scholar services area, advise the campus Fulbright and graduate exchange programs, serve as a grant writer and financial manager, and coordinate the institution’s international agreements. 

Charlie holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from KU, an M.A. (Central Eurasian Studies) and MPA (Comparative International Affairs & Urban Management) from Indiana University and a B.A. from Oberlin College with majors in Neuroscience/Biopsychology and Psychology. Between 1994 and 1996, he served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer teaching English as a Foreign Language. He was stationed in Hungary.