April 27--A Northern Illinois University professor from Naperville was teaching in Nepal when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck there this weekend is now waiting to see when he'll be able to return home, colleagues said Monday.
Mark Rosenbaum, a marketing professor, had been teaching in Dhulikhel, a city east of Kathmandu, as a Fulbright scholar, according to College of Business Dean Denise Schoenbachler and Rosenbaum's official Fulbright page.
Rosenbaum, who has taught at NIU for about 12 years, contacted university officials Sunday to let them know he is OK, Schoenbachler said.
More than 4,000 were reportedly killed by the quake, which also displaced people across the country and left hundreds of climbers trapped on Mount Everest.
Schoenbachler said Rosenbaum's apartment was "completely destroyed" in the earthquake, but that the State Department -- which oversees the Fulbright program -- had found him temporary lodgings.
"He's essentially waiting for news on evacuating him and getting him out of there," she said Monday. "At the same time, I'm not sure the Fulbright faculty are the top imperative over there right now."
Rosenbaum arrived in the country in January and was scheduled to be there until June, Schoenbachler said.
He was slated to work with the Kathmandu University of Management's doctoral candidates, focusing on advanced statistical and research training, according to a past NIU press release announcing the Fulbright award.
Rosenbaum was also scheduled to engage in research projects with university faculty, local hospitals, non-governmental organizations and health care service providers, with the aim of improving Nepali service quality, according to the release.
He has received two Fulbright awards in the past, and was a scholar in Cambodia in 2009, according to NIU.
Rosenbaum emailed that electricity was being rationed and there was no water supply, Schoenbachler said.
"As he said, he went there to have an amazing experience, to contribute and give back and have an impact," Schoenbachler said. "But he certainly never expected to have this kind of experience there."
NIU also has 14 Nepalese exchange students this semester, according to spokesman Paul Palian.
Officials with the international affairs division have been helping those students contact their families, Palian said.
The students have made contact with their families and everyone appears to be OK, he said Monday.
geoffz@tribpub.com
