Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 31 May 22, 1997 - Mahmud represents university in Germany promoting commonwealth

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Mahmud represents university in Germany promoting commonwealth

By Sookhan Ho

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 31 - May 22, 1997

Virginia Tech MBA student Adam Mahmud was selected as one of six graduate business students who will help promote Virginia as a business location at the 1997 Hannover Industrial Trade Fair in Hannover, Germany last month.

Mahmud was selected from about 60 applicants across the state by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, which created its Student Ambassador Program last year to give graduate business students an opportunity to acquire international experience and further develop business leadership and marketing skills.

During their week-long stay in Germany, the students were scheduled to accompany the Virginia delegation of state officials and corporate executives as they visited potential distributors, agents, buyers, and investors. The students' duties at the fair included helping to solicit potential business contacts and distributing corporate literature at the Virginia pavilion.

Mahmud, who is specializing in international business, graduated this spring. Born in Britain to Libyan and Irish-American parents, Mahmud has lived in Libya, Bahrain, and the United States. He has traveled extensively throughout America, Western Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. But, he says, "the only place I have ever called home has been the Commonwealth of Virginia. The chance to promote Virginia on the world stage would be a privilege and an honor."

Mahmud is no stranger to the world of global business. After earning a bachelor's degree in English and journalism, he worked for a year at the Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain. He was a management trainee in the bank's legal-affairs department and was later assigned to its operations unit where he processed foreign exchange and money market transactions.

Mahmud also spent two summers as an intern in Congress. At Virginia Tech, he participated in a faculty-led study-abroad program in China and Hong Kong sponsored by the Pamplin College of Business last summer.