Director's Office

Garrett Margliotti is director of global partnerships and partner engagement at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for International Studies. In the newly created role, Margliotti works with Ariel C. Armony, vice provost for global affairs, and Belkys Torres, executive director of global engagement, to create and implement a strategic plan for the University’s transformative partnerships around the world.

Margliotti helps to drive thought-leadership in evaluating existing relationships and building new partnerships. He plays a key role in managing international agreement requests, approvals, and assessment and developing an international partnerships incubator for the University.

Margliotti came to Pitt from Northeastern University, where he served the Global Experience Office as senior associate director of advising and programming. Prior to Northeastern he directed Carlow University’s Center of Global Learning.  Margliotti holds an MEd in higher education administration and a BA in French and history from Pitt.

Ariel C. Armony, Ph.D., leads the University of Pittsburgh’s global engagement as the Vice Provost for Global Affairs and directs the University Center for International Studies, home to the University’s top-ranked thematic and area studies centers. He also holds faculty appointments in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and Department of Political Science in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

Armony’s work has been published in leading journals in the United States, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and China. He has published nearly 20 books and special issues. His book, The Dubious Link: Civil Engagement and Democratization (Stanford University Press, 2004), was a university press bestseller. Armony’s latest book is The Global Edge: Miami in the Twenty First Century, (University of California Press, 2018), co-authored with Alejandro Portes.

Armony is a frequent commentator for U.S. and international media, most recently on the topics of the changing role of China in Latin America, the globalization of cities, and innovation in international education. His research areas also include democratization, civil society, and human rights topics.

Before arriving at Pitt, Armony led the University of Miami’s Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas. He has been a Fulbright scholar, Rockefeller Foundation scholar, and residential fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Armony earned a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Political Science and a Certificate in Latin American Studies from one of the Pitt centers that he now directs.

Under Armony’s leadership, the University Center for International Studies received the “Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization” in 2017 from NAFSA: The Association of International Educators. His personal honors include being named one of the U.S. “Top Argentine Professional and Business Leaders” by Negocios Magazine in 2017, as well as serving as program co-chair of the Latin American Studies Association International Congress in 2016.

As the University of Pittsburgh’s global operations support manager or “global concierge,” Ian McLaughlin is the first point of contact Pitt faculty and staff who have inquiries related to international engagement. McLaughlin consults on travel safety and benefits, the process of initiating academic agreements or hosting delegation visits, international business operations, remote work abroad, and international vendor services.

McLaughlin joined Pitt in 2016, when he became the University Center for International Studies’ inaugural global operations support manager. Prior to serving Pitt, McLaughlin worked for 10 years in the University of Maryland’s University College European Division headquarters in southern Germany, where he held a variety of international program support roles. 

McLaughlin holds an MPA in Public Administration Management from Bowie State University and a BS in international business from Grove City College.

More information about Pitt’s global operations support is available on the Global Operations Support website.

Belkys Torres is executive director of global engagement at the University Center for International Studies. As a leading member of a team that works to achieve the University of Pittsburgh's global ambitions, she is a primary liaison for administrators, faculty, and staff on international partnerships, education abroad programs, community engagement, international student services, and global operations support. Her responsibilities include: advancing and assessing global learning; improving processes and procedures related to international partnership agreements; and leading the implementation of key initiatives in Pitt’s strategic and global plans. Torres co-chaired the University’s Year of Pitt Global committee (AY 2018-2019) and continues to serve Pitt’s Community Engagement Centers Advisory Council and executive board of the Hispanic/Latino Professional Association. She holds a PhD in English with a specialization in Latinx Cultural Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Notre Dame and has years of experience coordinating academic initiatives at that institution and directing programs for the University of Miami.