DePaul University is proud to recognize Dr. Warren Schultz, Professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, as the 2026 recipient of the Global Engagement Faculty Award (GEFA).
Established by the Comprehensive Internationalization Committee (CIC), the award honors faculty members who demonstrate exceptional dedication to advancing international education, cross-cultural understanding, and DePaul’s global presence. Dr. Schultz’s three decades of globally engaged teaching, scholarship, and institutional leadership made him a standout among this year’s nominees.
Honoring a Pioneer in Global Engagement
When Dr. Schultz joined DePaul in 1995, he was the first historian of the Islamic world the History Department had ever hired. What began as a mandate to redesign a single survey course evolved into a career defined by building international pathways for students and colleagues alike.
Dr. Schultz has created 15 new courses and played a foundational role in developing key academic programs at DePaul. In the aftermath of 9/11, he was one of four faculty members who designed the Islamic World Studies major and minor, championing a curriculum that reflected the full breadth of the Islamic world rather than focusing solely on the Middle East. He later initiated the efforts that led to the creation of the Grace School of Applied Diplomacy.
His commitment to study abroad has been equally transformative. Inspired by his own 1980 to 1981 study abroad experience at Durham University in England, Dr. Schultz designed DePaul’s first successful short-term study abroad program in Morocco during his very first year on the tenure track. He went on to lead or co-lead 14 short-term programs across Morocco, Istanbul, and Jordan. His Jordan program served as one of the three original proofs-of-concept for DePaul’s award-winning First Year Abroad (FY@broad) program, which he directed for seven iterations.
As Associate Dean and Executive Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Schultz championed global engagement at the institutional level by clarifying study abroad policies, mentoring faculty interested in leading international programs, and broadening the college’s undergraduate research journal, Creating Knowledge, to welcome contributions from all majors and amplify globally minded student scholarship.
His contributions have been recognized with the Spirit of DePaul Award and DePaul’s Cortelyou-Lowry Award for Outstanding Achievement, among other honors.
Dr. Schultz’s research on medieval Islamic numismatics has earned international recognition, with publications spanning contributions to The Cambridge History of Egypt, the New Cambridge History of Islam, and over 30 encyclopedia entries across major reference works. His monograph, published through the University of Bonn’s Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg, and dozens of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters have established him as a leading authority in the discipline. His scholarship has also taken him into the field where he participated in excavations at Tall Hisban in Jordan and has contributed numismatic expertise to other archaeological projects.
His global reach extends well beyond the page. Dr. Schultz has taught advanced seminars to international scholars at Waseda University in Tokyo, the University of Bonn, and Kyoto Women’s University, and has served museums across multiple countries in identifying their Islamic numismatic holdings. He was recruited by the U.S. State Department’s Cultural Antiquities Task Force to help draft the coins section of the antiquities agreement between the United States and the Kingdom of Jordan, signed in 2019. Closer to home, he has shared his expertise with K-12 educators through the Newberry Library and with community groups across Chicago.
A Milestone in Recognizing Global Leadership
The Global Engagement Faculty Award celebrates impactful contributions across teaching, research, service, and institutional partnerships that foster meaningful global engagement. Dr. Schultz’s career-long dedication to expanding DePaul’s international reach, from the classroom to the world stage, exemplifies the values this award seeks to honor.
“None of this would have been possible without the amazing colleagues I’ve met along the way,” said Dr. Schultz. “DePaul opened doors of flexibility and opportunities for me, and I’m grateful for every one of them.”