UW-Madison hired Ian Baird last week to become a part of UW-Madison's Geography Department as its first Hmong Studies professor.
According to a release, Baird's studies and teaching will focus on Hmong groups in mainland Southeast Asia in hopes of creating a program for students to study Thailand, Laos and Cambodia more in depth.
""Although I am not strictly a Hmong studies specialist, I very much look forward to working closely with the Hmong community in Wisconsin and supporting Hmong and non-Hmong students at the university,"" Baird said in a statement.
UW-Madison received a $500,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to fund the position. The grant also creates a Consortium in Hmong Studies between UW-Madisaon and the University of Minnesota.
According to the release, Baird has 23 years of experience in studying Southeast Asia and is one of the world's leading researchers on the area.
